A Week of Saturdays

Grafton Village - The Making of Vermont Cheddar

2011-10-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

Check out this really sweet video from Grafton Village Cheese Company! Learn more about the creamery and watch them make cheese (om nom nom).

They are famous for making a damn good Vermont Cheddar - find Grafton Village at your local store here.

Enjoy!
xo D

Cheese of the Week

2011-10-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

Hi all -

Just a quick post here in the middle of a hectic week - I have to replace a leaking tire, try to remember that dishes have to get washed, and convince the DMV I am not a raging delinquent. I'm about to throw my hands up, buy some paper plates and biodegradable plastic forks, and just order pizza.

BUT: This weekend I had an adventure. An adventure of epic and cheesy proportions. I made the pilgrimage to the new(ish) SF Mecca of all things sharp and oozy and delicious, Mission Cheese.

Chloe is jazzed about cheese!

I will post more photos when I get home tonight, or maybe tomorrow, BUT - suffice it to say that the cheese I am about to tell you about is one of the best cheeses I have had in a loooooong time.

Lovingly created at Nettle Meadow Farm in Warrensburg, NY, Kunik is a luscious triple-creme cow-goat milk blend cheese. I've been eating it spread on Della Fattoria levain with veggies and an egg fried over-hard. Also I may or may not have been eating it with a spoon.

You can definitely buy Kunik at Mission Cheese (for now - they update their retail list almost every day with new cheeses as stock changes!), or you can see a list of distributers here.

Bon appetit ;)
xo D

Getting Jazzed in the Morning

2011-10-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Step Up soundtrack: THAT'S WHAT'S UP.

(Google Reader folks, click out for the playlist.)

Nothing like a little hip hop to kick it up in the morning.

xoxo D

Hippie Chow

2011-10-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

Being Jewish is a huge part of who I am.. There's no way to write that sentence that doesn't sound a little cheesy but it's so true.

That said, for most of my life, I've stayed away from the majority of seafood (since unless it has fins and scales, it's not kosher). Still haven't ever eaten a scallop I enjoyed (although I've only eaten them twice, so I'm open to the possibility). I used to think I really hated shrimp - I still won't eat the ones you get at dim sum that still have the eyes and legs and everything. Blech.

BUT. BUT. Thanks to Whole Foods, a very nice Asian man behind the seafood counter, and one dose of mustered-up courage, the other night I found myself the proud possessor of a dozen pre-cooked, delicious pink shrimp. The counter guy let me taste one before I bought and OH MAN it was so gooooood. Guh. Sweet and not fishy at all. Nom.

So: I was thinking to myself, I want to make myself a Bowl of Food. Now, the Bowl of Food phenomenon occurs when you put a bunch of healthy crap together and it tastes awesome. Also known as hippie chow. Here's my awesomely yummy shrimp-kale-grain version!

Ingredients:

10-12 medium shrimp (size 31-40)

chopped Red Russian kale

crimini mushrooms

1 svg Trader Joe's 3 Grain Blend (barley, rice, spelt), cooked

dash olive oil

1 thick slice firm tofu

1 clove garlic

soy sauce

lemon

salt

pepper

1. Cut the tofu into ~1/2 inch cubes. Dry-fry in a pan over medium heat. Let it brown a little bit and then set aside.

2. Saute mushrooms & garlic & kale in olive oil. Kale should get bright green and mushrooms should brown but don't overdo it.

3. Add cooked tofu and shrimp and a splash of soy sauce, just for long enough to warm through.

4. Dump the rice in the pan, stir everything around, add a light squeeze of lemon and a dash of salt and pepper.

5. Serve in a bowl, with a tiny dish or napkin to put the shrimp tails.

Makes 1 serving.

Hey guess what! More single girl food! W00t. I think shrimp will not be a frequent guest in my home, but every once in a while I can see getting a craving and running down to Whole Foods to get em..

xoxo D

Potato Thyme Cheddar Toast

2011-10-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

Oh man oh man. I just... yes. Amazing.

Let me rewind.

1) I have an obsession with food blogs that is rather odd - I bookmark everything and rarely make anything.

2) I love cheese. And bread. Also cheese. You might know this already.

3) It's rare that I make anything without adding touches of my own. Most of the time I don't use recipes and just toss stuff together.

So, with that context, I give you elephantine's potato & rosemary pizza... which, in my house, morphed into potato thyme cheddar toast.

A few notes: Make sure to slice the potatoes suuuper thin. Also, you can make this with frozen bread, which I did, since I have a loaf of Sunflower Seed bread from Wild Flour Bakery in Sonoma County (ya rly) hibernating peacefully in my fridge. Also also, try making this with other stuff! Like a milky soft cheese + some kind of spicy salumi + thinly sliced potatoes would also be amazing. Ooh! This one would be great with chives and butter instead of ricotta and thyme!

Without further ado:

Ingredients:
2 small pieces of toast
2 tbsp ricotta cheese (I used part skim)
Whole salt (like in a twisty mill thing? What is that called?)
Pepper (peppercorns in a mill)
1/2 medium red potato
2 tbsp(ish) finely chopped Cabot clothbound cheddar
1 tsp olive oil

1. Toast bread lightly to defrost.
2. Spread with ricotta.
3. Slice potatoes very very thinly. Put olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl with potato slices; toss to coat.
4. Lay coated potato slices over the toasts.
5. Sprinkle sharp cheddar over the potatoes.
6. Toast again until cheese is melty and potatoes are sorta cooked.

In the above picture, I would have toasted it for longer - it was a little too soft and not crunchy enough. Maybe toasting the potato slices first on a toaster pan?

Anyway, DELICIOUS. Hell yeah single girl food.

xoxo D

Tangy Leek, Mushroom, Kale & Cheddar Quiche

2011-10-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hey all! I was looking for a low-cal quiche recipe on Saturday and was so excited to find this post on the MyFitnessPal forums. I'm copying my recipe straight to/from there, so.. no judgment, ok? :)

I LOVE the OP's strategy of using greek yogurt and ricotta and egg to make the custard part instead of milk/cream etc - I think it gave this quiche a really fabulous tangy flavor that it might not have had otherwise.

Alas, I am a quiche-with-a-crust kind of girl, so my variation is more calories than the OP's - but I used a whole wheat crust, so as to add some fiber.

Custard:

1 C part skim ricotta

1 C fage 0% greek yogurt

4 whole eggs

salt

pepper

dash nutmeg

Filling:

3 lg crimini mushrooms, chopped

1 leek (white/light green part only, chopped thinly)

2-3 cups red russian kale, chopped

2 oz Cabot clothbound cheddar (sharp white cheddar), crumbled

garlic, 3 cloves

dash olive oil

whole wheat crust from Whole Foods, frozen

1. Saute leek in olive oil for 1-2 mins. Add garlic. Add mushrooms and kale. Saute until the mushrooms are browning and the kale is bright green, but nothing is burning or limp. (at this time, pre-heat oven to 325 F)

2. Transfer to bowl off the heat; set aside.

3. Mix ricotta, yogurt, and eggs. The texture will be a little gross at first but give it some muscle and it turns into a nice fluffy, slightly goopy mixture. Add a dash of nutmeg and some salt and pepper.

4. Add cooked veggies to the custardy mixture. Stir. Also add the crumbled white cheddar.

5. Pour the mixture into the whole wheat pie crust. The pie crust should be full but not overflowing.

6. Bake the quiche at 325 F for 60 minutes, give or take. You want the center to be softish but not liquid.

7. Let the quiche cool for ~5-10 mins. It will collapse/settle slightly - this is normal.

8. Cut into 6ths; serve.

So: for a serving that is 1/6th of the pie, the nutrition info is as follows:

340 calories

20 g fat

18 g protein

If you want to do 1/8th pie servings, the nutrition info is as follows:

255 cal

15.1 g fat

13.4 g protein

It's really the crust that adds on the calories and fat, so making this without the crust would really bring down those stats. BUT - crust is amazing. Therefore: whole wheat crust. More fiber!

AND IT WAS AMAZING. GUH. I am sad that I can't with any conscience eat the entire quiche right now, but I am heartened that I have quiche to eat for the rest of the weekend/week. NOM!

**UPDATE** Even more amazing two days later!!!

Cheese Reading

2011-09-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

OK, maybe I'm a little bit obsessed.

Currently reading: The Cheese Chronicles by Liz Thorpe.

photo / Amazon

I'll let you know how it is!

Epic Cheese Post, #1

2011-09-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

All right, as long promised, welcome to my first epic cheese post. A word of warning to the wary: this is no place for those whose palate favors only the bland, the unassuming, and the basic. Or those who are lactose intolerant.

To start off, of course I have to be a bit narcissistic and recommend to you my Favorite Cheeses of the Moment (in no particularr order):

1. Humboldt Fog - king among unusual, indigenous-to-Northern-California goat cheeses, this delicious specimen is ash-ripened and aged. For more information, visit CypressGrove.com.

photo / Cowgirl Creamery

2. Cana de Oveja - a rarer, sheep's milk version of Spanish Cana de Cabra, this Bucheron-like cheese is both buttery and sharp. I had it for the first time as a part of Absinthe's cheese plate, paired with white-wine-apricot preserves. Three words: To. Die. For.

photo / Cowgirl Creamery

3. Casatica di Bufala - A water buffalo milk cheese! According to Cowgirl Creamery, water buffalo milk "has twice the cream as cow's milk." It makes for a fantastic, bloomy-and-aged on the outside, soft-and-rich on the inside cheese.

photo / Murray's Cheese

4. Cabot Sharp White Cheddar - I first discovered this via a bowl of chili with my friend Kristin K. I thought that our bean-and-turkey-and-veggie-with-a-splash-of-beer chili couldn't get any better, and then then not only did we toss some fresh avocado on there, but she pulls out a hunk of white cheddar and proceeds to blow my mind. This cheese is seriously addictive - be careful!

photo / Cabot Vermont

5. And finally, last but certainly not least, Abbaye de Belloc - semi-hard, smooth but a little bit of a bite to it - the perfect cheese to eat with some membrillo. I love it, I love it, I love it. According to Cowgirl, it's made in the Western Pyrenees.

photo / Cowgirl Creamery

Apparently, you can buy all of these cheeses on Amazon! Can someone explain to me how that works? Does a man in a jumpsuit just arrive at your door with a refrigerated case? "Houston, we have delivered the package. Over and out."

Things to eat with your motherlode of cheese that you have undoubtedly purchased by now:

Mitica membrillo - I found this at Whole Foods but you can also get it online.
Anything from Happy Girl, especially:

Apricot jam
Strawberry preserves
Wildflower honey

This post is ideally just an overview, but in case you get impatient waiting for me to write a "how to assemble an awesome cheese plate" post, here are a few good ones from Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo.

Clearly you need Cheese Supplies:

Cheese paper - ideally this keeps the cheese "alive," instead of suffocating it in plastic. I've found that plastic keeps the cheese fresher, but using paper deepens the flavors. Hmm, might have to write a post on the pros and cons of cheese paper - stay tuned!
Cheese box - I mostly want one of these because it's adorable. But I imagine if you have some super stinky cheese, it would contain the smell and make it so the rest of your fridge doesn't smell like death.

Cheeses on my bucket list:

Azeitao - tough on the outside, creamy on the inside Spanish sheep's milk cheese.
Bucheron - tangy French goat cheese coated in ash.
Carmody - made with buttery Jersey cow milk, dense and smooth. (just bought a wedge! so excited!)

Types of Cheese AKA Whole Foods' CHEESE 101
Note: I didn't write any of this, all courtesy of Whole Foods. So useful!

Like bread or wine, cheese falls into basic categories based on its texture and the process with which it's made. Luckily for cheese heads like us, the categories are simple:

Fresh: Think of these cheeses as the ones without rinds. This category is where you'll find casual favorites like goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, ricotta and cream cheese.
Semi-Soft: If you're making a grilled cheese sandwich, consider these guys. Semi-soft cheeses—ones like Gouda, Provolone, Havarti and Jack—are great for eating out of hand and even better for melting.
Semi-Hard (a.k.a. Semi-Firm): Cheddar is the king of this category, which includes tasty favorites like Edam and Gruyère.
Hard (a.k.a. Firm): Grating cheeses (see Cheeses that Grate) and cheese tray stand-outs like Mimolette and aged Asiago rule this category.
Washed-Rind: Cheeses like Tallegio, Limburger and Muenster bathe in salty brine, sometimes with a little beer, wine or liquor added to gild the lily. The brine in turn helps cheese to form an edible rind around its soft or semi-soft interior.
Bloomy-Rind: These cheeses are purposely exposed to mold spores to create a gently fuzzy rind on the outside. The rinds on these cheeses, like those of Brie and Camembert, are generally edible, though some folks choose to skip to the creamy insides.
Blue: Love it or hate it, blue cheese is here to stay. These pungent, delicious cheeses are marked with blue mold, introduced when mold spores are injected or added to the cheese. Stilton and Maytag Blue are stand-out examples of blue cheese done right.

Thanks for the cheese primer, Whole Foods!

Best Places in the Bay Area to get cheese:

Whole Foods Cheese
**BONUS** Cheesy Trivia!

Excellent selection and knowledgeable cheesemongers.

Berkeley Bowl West cheese department

The guys at the cheese counter are always pretty busy, but if you catch them in a quiet moment they can be a valuable source of information. Keep an eye out for the sale cheese of the week! Nom!

Cowgirl Creamery

The Cheese Mecca - always an adventure! Take a number, and then be helped by an enthusiastic cheesemonger who only wants to get you the most delicious cheeses. Tell them what you're looking for or what you're planning to eat/drink with the cheese, and they'll take care of you.
Locations in the SF Ferry Building and in Pt. Reyes, among others.

In Conclusion (Now that I have overwhelmed you with yumminess):

All right, bat's all for now, folks. Hopefully I have inspired some excitement in the cheese-loving members of my limited readership :) If you love it, share! If you have any ideas or feedback or cheese recommendations, comment! I always love to hear from people.

Yours in deliciousness,

Devora

Dreams That Feel Like Waking

2011-09-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Why, this moment.

A speck of truth.

Splinter in palm, corrected as such.

Oh, to be an architect...

Big Cheese Post Coming Soon!

2011-09-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

Hello all - I've been swamped with a project at work, but that doesn't stop me from eating lots of cheese! Good thing excellent cholesterol runs in my family!

Cana de Oveja, photo courtesy Cowgirl Creamery

Expect a thorough cheese post coming soon... with my favorite cheeses of the moment, where to buy in the Bay Area, a few yummy pairings, and an essential cheese accessory or two.

xoxo D

Amusing Things Part 1

2011-08-31T12:40:00.001-07:00

OK, this video never ceases to amuse me.

Taking a Sick Day for Anxious People

2011-08-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've never quite thought of myself as a workaholic, but it's funny to see how hard it is for me to take a day off since I started working. Now, this isn't a day off like "I need a mental health day" - that's a whole different can of worms. I do believe those days are necessary, but tell that to my guilty conscience and overbearing standards for myself!

Today, I've got: a sore throat, an achy body, a head full of cotton, and a stuffy nose. Now, if that's not a nasty cold that actually DEMANDS a day off - I don't know what is.

So here's the catch - I CAN'T RELAX. I mean, I slept until about 10. I ate Indian food for breakfast (possibly not the greatest choice, blurg). I set myself up a sick box next to my bed with everything I could possibly need in it (external hard drive with movies/tv, ibuprofen, tissues, headphones, journal, crossword puzzles, etc). I should be lounging about, reveling in the excuse to do nothing. But all I feel is stir crazy.

I can't be the only person who feels like this, right?!

This is a pretty hilarious post about 20 things to do on your sick day.

Here's how my day has gone so far:

Wake up at 7am, body's natural get-up-for-work clock is on it. Go back to sleep.
9am - "Are you sure you're not going to work?" zzzzzzzzz.
10am - GODDAMMIT I can't stay asleep any longer because my nose is threatening to explode.
Get hair under control (I look like I got electrocuted).
Lie on bed moaning.
Blow nose. (repeat every 5 minutes)
Peruse Google Reader. (repeat every 5 minutes)
Lose tissues in bed.
After 15 minutes of raging, find tissues on floor at foot of bed.
Watch 3 episodes of Community in a row before I remembered that I planned yesterday to try to space out tv watching with other, more productive things. Fail. Watch another episode of Community.
Eat Indian food leftovers from last night. Begin to regret eating Indian food.
Indian food seems to have settled, thank the baby Jesus.
Decide to go see The Debt in theaters because it is the only movie that looks even remotely worth watching. Showtime: 2:15pm. Current time: 11:37. DRAT.
Blog.

So. There we have it. Still no idea of how to tame my inner workaholic/meany voice. Mostly I think I'm just bored.

Ideas??

Hello Hello

2011-08-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Single Gal Dinner #3

2011-08-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

In other news, goat cheese pizza from Trader Joe's!

Seriously, Trader Joe's frozen stuff is amazing. Some things from TJ's I like:

Green Chili & Cheese Tamales (eat with some good nutritious soup & some fruit)
Individual quiches of varying kinds (my fave is broccoli & cheese)
Potato latkes (ya rly)
Veggie lasagna

With this delightful little pizza, I ate:

And drank:

Pellegrino and red wine (not mixed together, of course!)

Live a little :)

Exotic Cheeses, Every Day All The Time

2011-08-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

My favorite kind of day is one that includes many different kinds of cheeses. Luckily, Kate and I are of a similar mind on this front!

We started the day at Absinthe in Hayes Valley - lovely lovely lovely as always!

Kate the villainess

Faced with an entire menu of beautiful brunch goodness, we decide on cocktails and cheese with a side of Peach Brown Sugar pancakes. Of course. Because that's how we roll.

Abbaye de Belloc cheese with white-wine apricot preserves

We also had a tasty Hudson Valley domestic Camembert with apple slices and toasted walnuts, AND (my favorite of the three) a magnificent Cana de Oveja from Lorenzo Abellan’s Farm, Murcia, Spain with fig compote.

Of course, not ones to do anything halfway, we made the pilgrimage to Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes in search of more cheeses - stinky, bloomy, delicious, the lot of it. (Also, what is this place? I want to go to there.)

And we came away with some LOOT:

Garrotxa Spanish Goat Milk Cheese
Casatica di Bufula (water buffalo milk cheese, amazing with Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips)
Fiore Sardo (sheep's milk hard cheese, fantastic with Cowgirl Creamery membrillo)
Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog (of course)
Cowgirl Creamery Wagon Wheel

What an amazingly fabulous and cheese-filled day. Separate post coming about what we made for dinner...

Love! D

Rainy Day Movies

2011-08-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

Listening to rainymood.com at work keeps me sane most of the time. The ocean or the rainforest or any of those other ambient sounds never relaxes me enough, but the sound of rain is only the best thing ever.

I know that when winter comes, I'm only going to want more sunshine.. but more often than not, when it's sunny I feel the weight of the tyranny of a beautiful day.

My lovelies, what are some of your favorite rainy-days movies? The ones that you watch over and over again even though you've seen them a million times, that feel almost as good to fall into as your bed covered in pillows?

Mine are:

Amelie

The Breakfast Club

Miracle

Casino Royale

Enjoy your weekend! I'll be snuggled up tonight with my deluxe Snuggie (hell yeah don't judge) and probably some hot chocolate and maybe caprese salad (just to confuse my sense of the seasons even more).

xoxo D

Time Gaps

2011-08-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about wasted time. I spend two hours a day on the bus on the way to or from work. Then I drive home. Often, I wait for something. For the bus, for someone to meet me, in line at the grocery store or the post office.

I read an interesting post today from Marc and Angel Hack Life. I find a lot of their posts to be a bit trite or overdone, but every once in a while they hit the nail on the head. This particular post was about doing "good-karma" things with your little bits of free time (anywhere from 5 mins to 3 hours). I don't know about you-all, but sometimes it's the waiting, the bits and pieces of time I have, when I'm too agitated to just sit and be, that get me - I tend to fall into thought-spirals or stare at my phone waiting for it to entertain me. It got me thinking - what is my list of good-karma things to do in my "time gaps"?

**Note - I hate the idea that we have to fill every minute with something. I'm not endorsing that kind of anxiety - in fact far from it. This is rather an exercise on my part - to spend my extra pieces of time doing something productive or wholesome instead of refreshing Facebook obsessively.

1-5 minute gaps

send someone a nice text about how much you love them or with a funny joke.
grab one thing you don't need anymore and throw it away (or start a Goodwill bag)
read a quick inspirational text to get you thinking (here are some examples)
grab your own grocery bags to take to the store, or put them in your car
smell a pretty flower; maybe pick it to put in your hair
put one thing back in its place
wash 3 dishes
think of someone you haven't seen in a long time and wish them well with all your heart
watch a funny Youtube video to make you laugh (these ones are pretty great)
hug an animal (make sure you ask if he/she/it doesn't belong to you!)
click t0 get sponsors to donate at the Hunger Site (no commitment, just literally clicking a button and then advertisers donate $)

15-30 minute gaps

flip through your recipe box or a cookbook or your browser bookmarks (I know you use Chrome by now..), pick a new recipe, and put it on your calendar to make it sometime in the next 2 weeks. [these look tasty!]
write a postcard to your family member/best friend and include an observation of something beautiful.
go on a walk with a jar of water and water 1 plant that looks sad and like it needs some love.
call your best friend and talk about feelings (sometimes this may take longer if you are me).
find a place you'd like volunteer for an afternoon or a few hours.
plan a day to volunteer and put it on your calendar.
call your grandma or grandpa and ask them to tell you a story. (grandparents are awesome!)
do something silly to make someone else laugh.

1-3 hour gaps

Make dinner for a friend who is overworked and hates cooking! Tell them they can bring something if they want but no obligation.
Plan an afternoon with your friends to go somewhere and volunteer together, like a community garden or a shelter lunch.
Educate yourself about something new. Google Books, How Stuff Works, and hell yeah Wikipedia are a good place to start. Also the real-live library which is my favorite!
Take at least 1 bag of giveaway stuff to Goodwill. They take just about everything and have store everywhere.
Think of 1 way you can improve your home and plan it out. My current ideas are: 1) organize the corner of my living room that should have a couch in it, 2) convince my building owner to order a compost bin for the building, 3) figure out a good laundry system that prevents a month of laundry backlog.
Invite someone over to do nothing with you. Drink wine, read poetry to each other, whatever you want. Just enjoy being with someone you think is awesome and who you know thinks you're awesome.

Enjoy.. of course the irony is how long I've spent on the computer composing this. Oh well. Worth it. Gonna go read poetry in bed now.

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

2011-08-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

AS virtuous men pass mildly away,
    And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say,
    "Now his breath goes," and some say, "No."

So let us melt, and make no noise,
    No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move ;
'Twere profanation of our joys
    To tell the laity our love.

Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears ;
    Men reckon what it did, and meant ;
But trepidation of the spheres,
    Though greater far, is innocent.

Dull sublunary lovers' love
    —Whose soul is sense—cannot admit
Of absence, 'cause it doth remove
    The thing which elemented it.

But we by a love so much refined,
    That ourselves know not what it is,
Inter-assurèd of the mind,
    Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss.

Our two souls therefore, which are one,
    Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
    Like gold to aery thinness beat.

If they be two, they are two so
    As stiff twin compasses are two ;
Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show
    To move, but doth, if th' other do.

And though it in the centre sit,
    Yet, when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
    And grows erect, as that comes home.

Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
    Like th' other foot, obliquely run ;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
    And makes me end where I begun.

-- John Donne

Here Today

2011-08-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

Gone tomorrow.

[I do not end where I'd begun.]

normal day music

2011-08-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

Have some music!! (Google Reader Folks, you have to click through to the actual website. Deal with it.)

The Bird and the Bee is AMAZING. <3

Self Portrait

2011-08-03T20:13:00.001-07:00

Do You Know?

2011-08-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

I wish I knew the time in Narnia..

Dim Sum Nice Food

2011-08-03T20:05:00.001-07:00

Good Mong Kok Bakery, Stockton St. SF, CA

Take One Give One

2011-08-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

Two Renn Fayres Ago

2011-08-03T19:59:00.001-07:00

Blur

2011-08-03T19:56:00.001-07:00

Epic It-Feels-Like-Saturday Rooftop Feast

2011-07-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

What an epic day, thanks to Miss Morgan. (Dear, START A FOOD BLOG. :*)

We started off at the Renegade Craft Fair - I feel like that will need to be a separate post, because I have so many beautiful cards and crafts and wonderful treasure finds. But alas, they have not yet been photographed or scanned, so that will have to wait until tonight when I get home.

Here's a snap to keep you tided over until then:

We spent the rest of the day recovering from the overload of people and crafts and crowdedness with an EPIC rooftop feast. Joan invited us into her beautiful home (full of crafts and found objects and art) and we assembled a buffet the likes of which has never been seen.

Clockwise from left: cheese plate with 5 kinds of cheese + white nectarine + orange, caprese salad, wine with swedish fish "ice cubes," and homemade guacamole.

Clockwise from left: toasted brie with apples, walnuts and honey; salami; cured salmon with peppercorns; smoked salmon; basil.

Heading up to the roof.. (+semifreddi's sour batard!)

First plate (of many):

Miss Joan enjoying the sun:

Aaand last but not least me & Morgan each wearing one of Joan's beautiful handmade wood-burned earrings. This girl is amazing - from what I could gather, her parents are woodworkers and toymakers, so she works with a lot of recycled and organic wood and other interesting found objects. So inspiring! Keep an eye out for her work under the name Sentient Salvage, coming soon.

I couldn't believe how inspired I felt by Joan's home - she's lived there on and off for about 7 years, and you can absolutely feel the love and warmth she has infused into her home. So many different art pieces and hangings and knickknacks, and yet nothing felt cluttered and everything was very clean and tidy and easy to maneuver. Definitely a house made for comfort. I am inspired to nest more in my own home! I always have this vaguely anxious urge for flight, to not get attached to anything or anyone. But we become attached to people and places whether we want to or not. Why NOT nest in my own home, regardless of whether I'll be there for a month or a year or a decade? It's a hard mental block to get around, but I think it'll ultimately feel really good.

I've already got three new projects going:

Rearranging my bedroom so my bed is diagonally in the corner by the window (love sunlight on my bed in the morning!)
I found a white nightstand down in my garage, and am going to paint it sky blue and buy new knobs and replace my wobbly stack of milk crates with an actual bedside table. Plus it's got doors and two shelves, plus a drawer. Perfect! And free!
I have an old oval mirror that's pretty chintzy, but I was thinking of stringing some ribbons or wire across it and making it a necklace or earring display. I love mirrors.

Feeling pretty inspired (although exhausted from everything) and ready to craft...

Music Music Everywhere

2011-07-08T14:12:00.001-07:00

Here's a playlist of what I have been listening to recently (Google Reader folks, click out to the real page and you will see the handy Grooveshark widget below):

And to follow up on that Single-Girl Meals post, last night I made:

open-face toasts made from buttered (earth balanced?) rosemary-potato bread
with slices of cherry tomato on top
and sharp cheddar cheese melted on top
plus a small bowl of raspberries
and a glass of limeade.

I ate it before I thought to take any pictures. Because it was delicious.

Seafood Fair Day!

2011-07-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

I love my job.

Did I mention I love my job?

Today at work was the second day of Google's "Think Global, Catch Local" Seafood Fair. The courtyard outside my building teemed with speakers, signups for volunteer events, and most of all FOOD (with hungry Googlers bearing down voraciously).

Here we go, bear with me if you can:

Summertime Citrus Halibut Ceviche with Brioche Crouton and Micro Cilantro
Caught by Johnny Le on "The Le"

Fritto Misto! with Lemon Aioli, Romesco and Bagna Cauda
Anthony Russo and Steve Fritz
Monterey and Half Moon Bay

Local Dungeness Crab Louie W/ Lemon & Tabasco Condiments

Abalone Ceviche Shooter with a Mock Pineapple Mojito (the abalone was a little too tough for me but GET A LOAD OF THAT PRESENTATION!!)
Caught by Fisherman Doug Hayes on "the Adventure Boat"
Pillar Point Harbor, Half Moon Bay

Clam pizza from Pizza Politana (sounds like a bad double entendre, sorry!)

Vietnamese Crunchy Sand Dabs in Lettuce & Herb Wraps
Caught by Captain Steve Fitz F/V "Mr. Morgan"
Half Moon Bay

Miso and Tamarind Black Cod Lettuce Cups with Forbidden Rice, Pickled Vegetables, and Crispy Won-Ton (unbelievable!!! really light and delicately cooked)
Caught by Josh Churchman on the "Paulo"
Half Moon Bay

But perhaps the most revelatory moment for me was when I stopped by the Hog Island Oyster Co booth, fueled by a stubborn unwillingness to actively dislike any food I haven't tried about 80000 times. The first oyster I ever ate was at my old boss's 4th of July BBQ. Having an old man going "Eat this! Eat this!" without actually explaining to you what it was, and ending up with a mouthful of fishy, gluey oyster did not exactly leave a good impression.

Since then, I've eaten oysters once or twice, but have never seen what all the fuss was about. UNTIL TODAY. Turns out the guy working the booth was someone I went to high school with (and I definitely didn't remember, but he remembered me :/) and he instructed me to take one of the oysters, put a little bit of mignonette sauce on and a squeeze of lemon, then tip the oyster into my mouth and chew. And it was MAGNIFICENT. A rush of briny saltiness, the tartness of the lemon, the herbal mignonette sauce. I ate two before the awkwardness of the high-school encounter drove me away. But I could have eaten 20!! HA! Another picky food habit falls by the wayside. (But so help me God, I will never like bleu cheese.)

Aaannnddd finishing it off with a goat milk ice cream sandwich from Oakland's very own La-Loo's.

Today is the best day.

Dad's 2010 Birthday

2011-07-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's always so hard to get good presents for people, especially when you're in the mid-20s no-man's-land of money where you are earning enough to get by and even live nicely, but you're not sure how long it's going to last. More often than not, I find that unless you're going to get someone an iPod (or books, knowing my friends) it's often more fun for everyone involved to do 1 of two things:

Assemble an awesomely creative gift basket based on something you already know they like and maybe want to learn more about.
Design an experience that you know they will love and will be relatively low-cost.

So for my dad's birthday last year, of course I set out to create a painstakingly-crafted themed cookbook for my dad, using my bookmaking skillz (of which I have fewer than I'd like) and zero time to work on it. I willfully ignored the 2 unfailingly-successful types of birthday gifts.

Admitting failure as his birthday came and went (sorry Dad!), I went with Strategy #2 and gave him this cookbook and a certificate entitling him to one dinner, chez moi, cooked from that cookbook with yours truly at the stove.

The date: July 2nd, 2011.

The location: my house (speed-cleaned!)

The menu:

Roasted garlic with Laura Chenel goat cheese toasts
Blanched green beans with mustard-cream remoulade
Herbed polenta with sauteed cherry tomatoes
Seared ahi tuna
Rhubarb-raspberry tart

The photographic evidence:

The verdict:

I may have preferred the dessert to the meal... :P but Dad enjoyed himself thoroughly and a good, yummy time was had by all.
Limeade is the perfect summer dinner accompaniment.
Baking with a pyrex pie dish instead of a tart pan at LEAST doubles the cooking time necessary for a custard to set.

What an awesome experience! And I don't even have TOO many dishes to do.. the worst have been scraped and are soaking. I'm tired of being scared off by dirty dishes :)

Yours in deliciousness and (mostly-)successful experiments,

Devora

Hella Leftovers

2011-07-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

In my typical roundabout, backwards way, I'm going to post what I made with the leftovers of last night's dinner before I post about last night's dinner. I'm awesome.

Last night I made seared ahi tuna for my dad as part of a very, very, very, very belated birthday present from last year. I'll post all about that in a sec, I promise. So today, I'm left with this big ole hunk of perfectly seared, sushi-grade tuna (the guy at Berkeley Bowl looked at me like I was going to throw the tuna away when I said I was going to sear it. Shut up, fish-man, shut up) that I paid almost $20 for so there's no way I'm gonna let that puppy go to waste.

I flipped through all my Bon Appetit and Food & Wine magazines (it's too hot for the heavy weight of a cookbook on my lap) and finally stumbled upon this recipe for Soba Noodle Salad with Salmon and Asparagus, from Apr 2011. Now, I don't have salmon. Or asparagus. But I do have tuna and green beans (also from last night).

Definitely a good use of the leftovers. Only thing I'd say is that adding some kind of citrus (lime, lemon, etc) would have made this a bit better but whatever. I didn't have any on hand.

Here's my approximation of my recipe, serves 2:

1-inch-round bundle of soba noodles (make a circle with your thumb and forefinger about the size of a quarter... there you go.)

1 Tbsp olive oil (ish)

1 Tbsp soy sauce (ish)

1 Tbsp rice vinegar (ish)

a squeeze of honey

a drizzle of sriracha

salt

pepper

green beans (leftover)

1 green onion (medium)

6oz seared ahi tuna (leftover)

sesame seeds (for garnish)

1. Boil the noodles until edible but not falling apart. Drain, rinse in cold water until cool. Set aside in a cold water bath.

2. Whisk the next 5 ingredients together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Chop green beans, tuna, scallion.

3. Drain noodles. Add dressing, toss. (To your taste with the dressing - I'm usually a less-dressing kind of girl but I liked it WAYYY better with more dressing. Also salt!!)

4. Add green beans, tuna, scallion. Toss. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

5. EAT.

I imagine this would keep for a few days in the fridge. Like I said, I found the dressing a bit boring - if anyone has a better one, let me know!

Single Girl Meals

2011-07-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

More often than not these days, I end up at home after a long day wondering what I should eat. I don't have a roommate, I haven't stockpiled any frozen homecooked stuff for a while, and going out all the time tends to lose its magic.

I spent the first five months of my job being so exhausted from work and commuting that I would jump at any opportunity to go out and try a new place. And hell, I'm certainly in the right place for that kind of lifestyle. But after a while, it started to feel... empty. Places I would have raved about suddenly felt like thy had terrible service, dry food, and were too hot or too cold or too crowded or too loud. What happened?? Dining out always makes me feel like a princess - but suddenly i was wishing for my dad's roasted chicken, and ripe tomatoes with just salt that doesn't cost $12 a plate, and homemade soup.

The problem isn't that I don't like cooking, or can't think of things to eat. Here are my problems:

Ingredients don't usually come in single-serving sizes, so I end up with more of don't-eat-this-by-itself things like sour cream and cilantro than I know what to do with. Seriously, what am I going to do with a whole freaking bunch of cilantro??
Most recipes aren't written or intended for single-serving meals, and halving or quartering the recipe often ends up being awkward and difficult.
I hate doing dishes with a fiery, burning passion. (This means that I cook once and my kitchen remains a war zone of steadily-evolving dish-creatures for the next month.)

So: what are my solutions??

Amanda Hesser (in Cooking for Mr. Latte, a froufy but great book of vignettes about her life, marriage and cooking) has a whole chapter about what to cook when you're home alone. And some of the recipes are great, like Truffle Egg Toast (although when am I really going to buy truffle oil?) and Single-Girl Salmon. But what I really want is a cookbook or a website or something that tells me - what the hell do I use all these random leftover ingredients for? And how do I avoid doing dishes at all costs? AND, most importantly, how do I keep my fridge from going to mold without being wasteful?

Well, I've grown up with a certain ethos, and going to a big college and working at a big company have kind of cemented it for me: No one's gonna do it for you, so you gotta do it for yourself.

Here's what I've been eating:

Greek yogurt with honey (Fage is the best, and getting the single-serving sizes is perhaps not the most cost-effective but it removes the dish factor and means I don't have to think about how long the open container of multiple-serving yogurt has been in the fridge for and if it smells weird. Shut up, I am neurotic. Maybe since my parents never throw anything away? The whole cheese drawer at their house has evolved into an entirely different breed of mold. BUT I DIGRESS.)
Pre-cut carrots sticks and celery sticks from Whole Foods + peanut butter.
More peanut butter.
Eggs & toast.
Fruit.
Annnnnddd.... that's about it.

Here's what I WANT to be eating:

And also these things:

Soups!
Homemade fresh spring rolls.
Anything with eggs, poaches especially
Summer fruit cobbler
Interesting vegetable and cheese sandwiches
Eggplant!
So much roasted garlic that the whole building has to evacuate.

So here goes:

I, Devora, do solemnly swear (from this weekend forward, where the looming spectre of my dad coming over for dinner means that I have to actually CLEAN MY HOUSE) that I will try my best to set aside time for cooking, will cook in bulk so I can freeze things and will figure out single-serving recipes where I can, will use the items in my pantry instead of just buying new food and will ENJOY the freedom to eat whatever I damn well want without anyone else to worry about. AND I also swear that trying is good enough, and not to be mean to myself when I just order some goddamn Chinese food and sit on the couch watching 30 Rock without pants on.

WHEW. ONWARD.

PS ALL I WANT IS TO TRY GOOGLE+. How is it possible that I WORK for Google and can't get a Google+ invite?? RAGE.

Friday

2011-06-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday - let's see what Flickr has to say about that... I know I'm wishing for a little Friday relief. Busy workday today (which is actually a great thing) and a busy weekend ahead (also a great thing) - still, I'm wishing for a few moments to myself, to read and relax...

DAMN does this chair look great:

1. kaylovesvintage

2. wansoo

3. sabinche

4. inazuman

5. davidlev

(click the images for links to the flickr pages.)

TGIF indeed.

Birthdays

2011-06-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

It's funny that I'm thinking about birthdays this far in advance of mine. I guess I've always had pretty good birthdays. The last few have been oddly nuanced - my 21st by a recent breakup, my 22nd by loneliness and confusion about what to do next with my life. (Quel horreur! Change and confusion!)

The clearest birthday gifts are the ones that last beyond a shadow of a doubt.. and the sharpest of gifts is absence.

Chaka's Mmm Sauce

2011-06-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

.....what?!

Found in Sacramento Raley's, of all places.. (with miss alison)

PS My sister says wtf = Wonderful Treasure Finds, so that is my new tag for stuff like this. Clearly a Wonderful Treasure Find.

Today's Playlist

2011-06-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

Grooveshark is amazing. Everything you can think of is there...

The last few days at work have been really good. Focused, interested, engaged. Music has been helping, although sometimes I have to turn it off because I get distracted and can't compose proper sentences.

Here's the playlist I'm about to listen to today:

Enjoy the sun... xoxo

Getting Away

2011-06-20T20:27:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I like to pretend I am not an anxious person.

I put on a dress (without thinking about how short it is or how chubby my knees look or if my hair is lopsided) and flats (without worrying about whether I'm going to get blisters or get cold) and leave the house (not doubting that I locked the door or turned off the oven that I rarely use or switched off all the lights).

I wish it were so simple.

Deprivation Anxiety

2011-06-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

So often, I find that posts that are supposed to be about "feeling positive" and "improving your life" involve depriving yourself of something that gives you pleasure. I'm a believer in moderation as much as anyone, but I see too many instances of crash diets and "I'm not eating carbs this week" and "I ate a cupcake so now I have to go to the gym for 2 hours." It makes me crazy!

Sometimes I start to feel down on myself - worrying about the aftereffects of a broken foot last summer in tandem with a sedentary job - and I think to myself, oh! I'll count calories! And do all these things that "should work! But the minute I start it, the very second I see a number attached to my breakfast and I am supposed to feel ashamed - something in me rebels. I don't like being told I'm wrong in the best of circumstances, and when I'm eating berries and whole-grain oatmeal, and apparently that's too many calories? I say fuck em.

I'm trying something new this summer - throwing deprivation out the window, listening to what my body wants and doesn't want (because usually my instincts are right about what's good for me), and trying to enjoy everything rather than punishing myself into some new way of life that's supposed to make me "better."

So here are some things I have enjoyed (without guilt!) in the last few months:

May the coming months be full of such similarly joyous things..

1. white wave walu - rocketfish sf

2. goi cuon roll - xyclo cafe, oakland

3. morgan's famous salmon

4. cheesecake in a jar - plum, oakland

5. blue bottle - jack london, oakland

6. prosciutto crudo sandwich - boccalone, sf

7. pork chops with dijon cream sauce, roasted root vegetables and balsamic asparagus - morgan's house

8. pollo tacos with cheese and cream - tacos mi rancho, oakland

9. raspberry sorbetto and fromage blanc gelato - lush, oakland

10. xolo taqueria, oakland

Days Off

2011-06-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Ate: here, here and here.

Saw this here.

Ate this:

Loved this:

Said goodbye, cried at the movies, said hello.

Angry, Disappointed Banana Bread

2011-06-12T09:23:00.001-07:00

I've never been one to stress bake. That's more Natalie's field than mine - she used to bake bread and croissants and pies whenever she didn't know what to do with herself. But today I BAKED. I baked an angry, disappointed, confused banana bread. I mean, the banana bread itself wasn't confused or angry. But you know how in Waitress, she makes pies? "I-hate-my-husband" pie, or "pregnant-miserable-self-pitying-loser" pie. Today I made angry, disappointed, confused banana bread.

I used Melinda's recipe, from Minnie's Cakes - she's a baker for Whole Foods. So delicious!

I guess I'm just feeling a little bitter today, and mixed up in unfortunate feelings, and wishing that I could just leave town and go on a month-long yoga retreat in the wilderness of Southeast Asia and come back a person who is entirely patient, detached, and wise. Too bad we can't force any of those attributes.

Also this was delicious:

(baguette with brie & frog hollow apricot preserves)

Why I am Not Buying Bon Appetit This Month

2011-05-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

I hate to be a baby or pompous or something about this, but I am refusing to buy Bon Appetit this month because they put Gwyneth Paltrow on the cover.

I feel like BA used to be an awesome FOOD magazine, and the recent shift has definitely made the magazine more hip and improved the design. But when they start putting annoying celebrities on the cover who think they're chefs because they can throw some asparagus in pasta, then they've lost me.

I want to hear about the people who are going to be the next Anthony Bourdains and the next great mixologists, who have calluses on their hands and have actually worked at doing something other than being glamorous.

Someone's Misplaced a Pawn

2011-05-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

Human chess, anyone?

watch me listen please

How I Feel Today

2011-05-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

(and every day this week)

"I am lonely, yet not everybody will do. I don't know why, some people fill the gaps and others emphasize my loneliness. In reality those who satisfy me are those who simply allow me to live with my 'idea of them.' "

— Anaïs Nin

Fireworks

2011-05-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

Somewhere (does it matter?).

"Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark."

~ Rabindrath Tagore

Today I am Grateful For

2011-05-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

Having a job that lets me work from home on occasion.

Sunshine (non-tyrannical).

Ryan.

That I live in a place with so many good things to eat.

And so many interesting people.

Having friends who love food as a way of life, not calories.

My camera.

Goofiness.

Love.

How I Feel Today

2011-03-21T13:10:00.001-07:00

Things I am Thankful For

2010-11-24T20:22:00.001-08:00

I never really think to blog nowadays - I'm keeping busy working and volunteering, and looking for a job. Plus just, you know, trying to be a human being and keep my apartment clean and stuff takes time too.

But one of my favorite young adult fiction writers/bloggers, Meg Cabot, posted on her blog today and it kind of inspired me. I know that when I sit down with the entire paternal side of my family tomorrow, and we prepare to stuff ourselves silly, I won't really know what to say when my turn comes to say what I'm grateful for. I always say something generic, like "living close to family" or "good food" or something like that. And while those are definitely two of the things I am most thankful for (duh, for those who know me!), there are other things I won't necessarily say, or have time to say, at the dinner table.

So. I'm thankful for:

Rediscovering a passion for reading.

Feeling like I know what direction I want my career to take. For any recent college graduate, and especially humanities majors, the time after graduation is a gaping maw of uncertainty, doubt, and awkward answers to the question "what are you doing next?". Knowing that I want my purpose to revolve around food justice and education is an amazing step forward for me, even if I am not exactly sure yet what I want to do in that enormous field.

Living close to my parents, aunt & uncle & their wonderful kids, and two of my grandparents. And having Skype to talk to the rest of my family, including my sisters. Having family around has become something really important to me, and I don't really know how to express how glad I am to have them without sounding horribly cliché.

Funny TV. 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, etc etc etc. My dad says that laughter is "fuel in the tank"; he's right.
Friends, old and new. Discoveries, adventures, conversations, everything.
My insane cat.
That I've learned so much in the last year about what I do and don't want in a relationship, or rather partnership, I should say. Among other things, I've gotta end up with someone who loves going to the Farmers' Market. Odd criterium, I know, but true.
Netflix. Hell yeah.
That I live somewhere where I am surrounded by GOOD FOOD!!
That Narnia and Tron Legacy are both coming out in the next few weeks. Epic, ridiculously gratuitous cinema is what movie theaters of the 21st century are MADE for. And it makes me so happy.
That I've healed decently from recent injuries! Sitting on the couch for days and weeks is NO FUN.
That I am getting better at being a real person, one step at a time. Faith works wonders :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all - hope you are spending it with people you love!

Suppenküche - Hayes Valley, SF

2010-09-24T21:10:00.001-07:00

Three words: EPIC CHICKEN FEAST.

To celebrate Miss Alison's birthday, I journeyed with some friends to Suppenküche, a darling German restaurant in Hayes Valley. Clean, airy, and spacious, this European eatery boasts a fantastic beer selection, not to mention a fairly large menu of favorite German dishes.

Our choice that evening was actually a special, although we badgered the good people of the establishment to put it on the regular menu once we had eaten our fill. This delightful meal, pictured above and below (before and after) consisted of half of a roasted chicken, with a savory dumpling cleverly hidden underneath, plus two hefty potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce.

Now, growing up Jewish in a family of Eastern European descent had its many benefits, first of which was undoubtedly the cooking - cabbage rolls, matzoh ball soup, and of course latkes are favorite childhood memories.

Suppenküche does everything right - the small but intimate bar, the communal tables, the big windows - I can't wait to return!

A last shot of friends ogling new technological advances over the remains of the poor but delicious bird.

Seriously, bring a few friends and go eat some latkes!

Suppenküche on Yelp, and their website.

Crafting Instead of Bloggin, Nowadays

2010-08-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy crafting, looking for a job and trying to get my home together that there just hasn't been any motivation to blog about it! I moved into my place in May, and here it is the middle of August and I'm still working on it. They say it takes six months to really move into a place - I'm certainly looking forward to unpacking that last box (whichever one is destined for that honor) and feeling at peace surrounded by the fruits of my labors.

Today I made this clutch, courtesy of Bend-The-Rules Sewing (an AMAZING book) and Jo-Ann's. I'm so proud of how it turned out! Only problem is that I don't have an iron yet, so it's not quite as pressed as I'd like. BUT - for someone who hasn't sewn in years, I think it looks pretty damn good!

The lining is a really intensely colored teal linen, the outside is grey-and-white-striped linen, with cotton flannel interfacing, slate blue thread, and an antique-style mock-silver button.

And this rapid-fire mock-up journal was made on a whim, based loosely on one of Alisa Golden's single-signature book designs. The cover is a gorgeous marigold yellow color, and since I'm still learning how to really use my new camera the colors seem a little odd. And that ribbon! I want to put it on everything! I want to wear it in my hair! I want an entire dress made out of this fabulous turquoise satin ribbon!

Whew. I'm on a roll. Next projects: a tablecloth for my teeny kitchen table, a chore chart that my sister kindly drafted for me (I'm gonna give myself gold stars as motivation for cleaning the bathroom :P), and a super-secret birthday gift for my dad. PLUS: off to Portland in just 12 short days, and New York right after that! I love August this year.

Townhouse

2010-04-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

Townhouse, Sac., CA

Devora on Yelp!

Gee Whillikers Sonny

2010-04-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

You sure are gettin' on in the years...

But you're not as old as your grandma and grandpa! Pour grammy some bourbon.

2010-03-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

"An angel in white stone, whose wing tips merge, in the winter light, with the high hawk-colored cliff behind the village - this stone angel holds the wrist of a soldier, whose legs have already given way, and who is slumping into death. The angel does not save him, but appears somehow to lighten the soldier's fall. Yet the hand which holds the wrist takes no weight, and is no firmer than a nurse's hand taking a pulse. If his fall appears to be lightened, it is only because both figures have been carved out of the same piece of stone."

~John Berger

(david horvitz)

Quincy, CA: Pre-New Year's Adventure

2010-02-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

Quincy, CA. 28-30 Dec, 2009.

Procrastinating

2010-02-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

feb 20, 2010

Time Capsule

2010-02-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

An Innovative Take on a Traditional Dish

2010-02-07T22:06:00.000-08:00

Visited Barlata in Oakland for the first time a few weeks ago with my mom, and was relatively pleased. The one thing I thought was really spectacular was the restaurant's take on Spanish boquerones.

Boquerones are a savory dish, usually prepared with filleted, olive-oil-vinegar-and-garlic-marinated anchovies served on or with crusty bread. Marche aux Fleurs in Ross has a particularly spectacular version. Barlata, however, served us boquerones made with the anchovies laid on a bed of sliced pears, and topped with a shaved cheese (manchego?). Plus, we got a basket of warm, crusty bread on the side. The fish was slightly lemony, and the flavors and textures together were really an interesting and new take on an old dish. Bravo!

Barlata
Temescal
4901 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA

A Select Few of New Year's 2010

2010-01-31T20:13:00.001-08:00

Ringing in the New Year the proper way - surrounded by beautiful ladies, good friends and plenty of champagne.

Black Orchid Club

2010-01-31T20:06:00.000-08:00

Two Flaming Redheads
Crafted by dear Suzanne
Forbidden Island, Alameda, CA

tired of remembering things to be sad about

2009-12-22T00:15:00.000-08:00

we don't have seasons here but it rains once in a while

2009-12-06T14:44:00.000-08:00

new friend is in good hands

2009-11-24T00:48:00.000-08:00

She keeps my lap warm...

Sometimes. :D
<3 to alison

can i keep the wings?

2009-11-24T00:42:00.000-08:00

Taken here during this.

2009-11-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

david horvitz

today is

2009-11-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

celebrated here with these <3

Fall Color 1

2009-11-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across the Civic Center Farmers' Market very early on a Sunday...the city was empty and beautiful in the crisp November sunlight, and suddenly there was industry! And color!

civic center farmers' market 1 from Devora Z on Vimeo.

civic center farmers' market 2 from Devora Z on Vimeo.

civic center farmers' market 3 from Devora Z on Vimeo.

Citybound

2009-10-18T00:08:00.000-07:00

Being away, even for a day, always makes me miss home/the city - never used to be like this. Wonder what changed?

1. Root Elements
2. teenyredshoes
3. kooop
4. Xxxtine
5. alpha haidork

Flickr Five: Eggs

2009-08-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

1. >:( -.-; ):< by yellowrubberduck
2. Eggbert is in Trouble... by ReRe
3. Eggbert - Intro by ReRe
4. Egg Wars by darkside_1
5. Eggs by featherdusting

OM-G & SD1000

2009-08-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to go back to photography again - not for any commercial gain, not to compete with anyone, just because I love it and miss it. I still don't have a DSLR, but I have my little digital camera, a Canon SD1000. It's pretty well-worn at this point, because I take it with me everywhere and I love it to death. I even have a little mini tripod that is perfect for it, and makes it much easier to take pictures at night.

I mentioned before that I re-bonded with my old film camera the other day - I present to you a pristine model (although this one isn't mine) of the Olympus OM-G, a.k.a. the OM-20.

My camera was my mom's in the 80s, and I think can be specifically dated to 1983 (older than me!). It's one of the amateur models, but it still takes pretty rad pictures when I tell it to. The great thing is that there's a good line of lenses (Olympus Zuiko lenses) that people are still selling and for relatively cheap, so if I decided I want more lenses they're out there.

I'm excited to take some color photos with the camera, but I do have a fondness for digital when it helps me make something like this:

Sydney - Edinburgh Castle Pub, San Francisco, CA. July 11th 2009.

More photos will come soon :)

p.s. the last post was my 100th post! Go me!

Foodzie Triplet: Peach Jam

2009-08-11T17:08:00.000-07:00

7x7 Magazine posted about Foodzie a few days ago, and a friend also sent me the link to this awesome site. Basically, the concept is that it's a DIY, small-goods site like Etsy, except that it focuses on food products! I live in an area privileged enough to stock many of the featured suppliers' products in my local grocery store, but for people who live in distant areas, this site is amazing.

I am a little iffy on the idea of buying things from far away, even if they're coming from individual producers - the product still has to be trucked to my door, regardless of the fact that it's not coming from a corporate/conglomerate farm. But I still think this is a step in the right direction - if people can convince their local communities that they want individualized products enough to order out of state for them, maybe more communities will begin producing their own jams and chocolates and sauces and actually trying to feed their people. It's an idealistic view, and not a very realistic hope, but I can dream :)

Here are three different sellers of peach jam (and variations):

1. Sunchowder's Emporia Jams (Longwood, Florida). Peach Jam Gift Basket: 3 8-oz sampler jars with Peach Lavender, Peach Cobbler, and Peach Habañero. $35 for the gift basket, which includes a ceramic plate, napkin, and spreader.

2. Terra Verde Farms (Rimrock, Arizona). Peach-Blackberry Preserves: 9.6-oz jar of peach-blackberry, with a hint of lemon and minimal sugar. $7 per jar.

3. Frog Hollow (Brentwood, California). Organic Apricot, Nectarine and Peach Conserves: 3 8-oz jars, 1/each, tree-ripened summer fruit jame with lots of texture. $21/set of 3.

All images taken from the Foodzie pages for the respective products, not trying to steal any images only publicize.

About A Week of Saturdays

2009-08-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

I began this blog a few years ago, with the intention of creating a sort of Tumblr-like photostream of my own photographs. Ever since, the site has evolved considerably, and the only constant has seemed to be that the posts themselves are about my own life and the things that interest me while I'm living in the SF Bay Area (Berkeley specifically).

I've posted photographs of my various outings, snaps of street art, reviews of various eateries and shops, commentary on design and culture, fun and/or artistic pictures of my friends, food I've eaten at restaurants or made at home, and even a window into what school tends to be like for me. I'd like to think that the common factor in all these posts is that the subjects they address matter to me in some way, regardless of what anyone else might think or want.

When I was pondering a title for the blog, nothing seemed to work particularly - everything was too cliche or too smarmy for my own good or too irrelevant. But "A Week of Saturdays" seemed to capture what I think this blog is actually about. Being an undergraduate has never proven easy for me, and yet it depresses me to think of how many people reserve pursuit of adventures, hobbies, and pastimes for the weekends, thinking that their job or their academic life precludes any kind of "indulgence" on weekdays. Well, I refuse to buy that - even at the height of finals, even when I am stressing about a paper or perhaps when I am simply on vacation, I've made an effort to choose to "indulge" my desire for culture, for social experiences, and for things that make me happy. Food, music, art, photography, fashion and friends are all things that continually pique my interest and keep me sane under the pressure of academic demands.

So, at the risk of sounding totally cliché, that's the blog: a metaphorical whole week of Saturdays, with nothing and yet the possibility of everything to do.

-Devora

You can also find me on Yelp and Twitter.

Flickr Five: Hummingbirds

2009-08-09T12:24:00.001-07:00

I've been on the internet all morning, trying to kick start my brain in terms of photography - I realized I had forgotten how much I love my film camera (Olympus OM-G, a.k.a. OM-20, 1983). It was a gift from my dad, and belonged to my mom. It's so gorgeous outside today, and all I want to do is go to Looking Glass Photo and spend a whole bunch of money and get enough film and accessories to last me a lifetime! But alas, I have to go to the library and write a paper. Oh, the woes of summer classes. In celebration of summer and in mourning of my sad restriction from enjoying it today, here are five summery pictures, yoinked from Flickr:

1. tanager55
2. {lemony}
3. ~Thái~
4. Momba
5. Kimclan

I guess a disclaimer to protect myself: I am not try to steal these images or make any money off of them, only to re-post them because they are beautiful and make me happy. If links are incorrect or you wish to have an image removed on the basis of copyright or something, don't hesitate to ask :)

Leftovers Sandwich

2009-08-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

When I have people over for dinner, more often than not I'll make this tomato-cream pasta recipe. I usually have most of the ingredients (except for cream) on hand already in my pantry, it's easy to make a lot of it at fairly little expense, and it's totally delicious. Probably not something you want to be eating on a daily basis, since there's cream and butter in it, but in moderation or on occasion it's very filling and satisfying. (Note: I add frozen peas, for color and a little extra green-vegetable kick. And I like it with cappellini/angel hair pasta.)

Of course, since I tend to make a whole ton of it to feed my hungry guests, I sometimes end up with extra sauce and don't really know what to do with it except put it on more pasta. The last time I made it, however, I figured that I had nearly an entire loaf of bread I needed to eat, and a chicken breast left over from another dinner. Now, the sauce is pretty thick, since I use diced tomatoes not puree, so VOILA! Sandwich!

All right, so my food photog skillz need some work. Whatever. This was just the leftover sauce with sliced baked chicken breast on whole wheat bread. Yum!

Love at First Bite, North Berkeley, CA

2009-08-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, I said I was going to be better about this blog, and look - it's been more than a month since I posted last! I guess I've just been gathering lots of new material to post about. Expect a bio/about post to get put up soon - I'll be linking it permanently in the navigation on the right but I think it's a good touch-base post, just for me. That'll get posted as soon as I edit it!

Now, onto today: exactly one month ago today, Jesse and I went to Love at First Bite, a delicious little cupcakery located on Walnut between Cedar and Vine Street in North Berkeley. The place is a little difficult to find since they're actually tucked behind another shop or two on a deck/patio, but the removal from the street is really lovely and a refreshing break. Additional access is by stairs on Vine.

We had just had a feast from Cheeseboard Collective (not the pizza, actually, but some of their excellent cheese assortment and some baguette pieces) and were ready for some dessert. Our choices were the Red Velvet and Bunny Love cupcakes. According to the website, the former is a "very red red velvet cupcake made with Guittard cocoa, topped with seductive cream cheese frosting." It was indeed delicious and very moist/light/fresh, as well as adorable:

The second cupcake, Bunny Love, is described as a "carrot cupcake with pecans and pineapple, frosted with classic cream cheese frosting." Seriously, ours was so good, even better than the Red Velvet cupcake, that I didn't even get a chance to get a picture of it before it got snarfed.

Love at First Bite (Yelp reviews here) has seriously taken cupcake-baking to new heights - again according to their website, they use "the finest, premium ingredients in our baked goods - Nielsen-Massey Madagascar and Mexican vanillas, Guittard, Schokinag, DeZaan and Callebaut chocolates and cocoa, premium Saigon cinnamon, Philadelphia cream cheese, and real butter, eggs, cream and milk from local dairies." And in addition to serving 12-15 different flavors of cupcakes daily, you can also find cookies, cakes, and cute baking/serving accessories for your own cupcake party. Seriously, my next birthday? Totally going to have a cupcake party.

Check here for ordering/package deal options, visit the store Tues-Sat 10-6 and Sun 11-5 (closed Mon), and contact them for more information if needed.

An Experiment: Steak

2009-06-22T23:41:00.000-07:00

I've always been a little wary of cooking meat, especially since as a child I was a vegetarian until age ten. And after that, it was always my parents who handled the meat, and who served it in delightfully pleasing forms alien to my concept of any raw or butchered animal.

As everyone who knows me is probably sick and tired of hearing by now, I recently read this incredible book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Now, I'm not a fan of her fiction, but this nonfiction account of her family's year spent eating only self- and locally-grown foods is not only incredibly inspiring but also very honest about the pros, cons, and possibilities of her family's venture. One chapter deals with the slaughter of the first round of heirloom turkeys pre-Thanksgiving, and while the account is indeed bloody the farmers display an incredible amount of gratitude and respect towards the animals they raised humanely and subsequently use fully.

Now, I'm not saying I'd like to slaughter my own meat, but I'm certainly getting more acquainted with the idea of cooking meat myself, especially since Star Grocery (near where I live) stocks Niman Ranch beef and other local meats. I've never been particularly picky; recent months have seen me fall in deep passionate love with sushi (previously abhorred), attempt to put zucchini in nearly everything (previously dismissed as "useless") and even make the extra effort to taste things like shrimp (of which I'm still not really a fan). In keeping with having a healthy diet, and living cheaply, I'm trying not to buy too much meat, but it's become considerably easier for me to deal with handling it when I know it's been treated humanely during its lifetime. Plus, between spinach and the occasional meat dish, I'm probably not going to have to start taking iron supplements anytime soon!

Here's a solo dinner I cooked up a few weeks ago: chuck steak pan-seared (just seasoned with salt and pepper), arugula salad with avocado and feta and lemon dressing, and ice water! Seriously, I forget to drink water so often, but drinking juice feels basically like pouring sugar into my veins so I try to avoid it most of the time.

Miss Alison, in Two Parts

2009-06-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

This was a day for picnics; for mac n' cheese, for guacamole and chips and sitting by the lake as the sun goes down.
miss alison lives here and here.

Tuesday Collaborative Dinner

2009-05-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Had a couple of girlfriends over for a quiet dinner the other night. We made mini-burgers (sliders?) with homemade spicy puttanesca sauce, fresh basil, and goat cheese; also salad and Kashi pilaf (which is quite crunchy and tasty). And raspberry sorbet for dessert! Perfect.

Also this surprisingly fun sparkling wine that Caitlin got:

Blender Inauguration

2009-05-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

My father treated me to a Bed Bath and Beyond shopping spree a few weekends ago; the catalyst for the mission was to find me a food processor/blender. Well, needless to say, we were successful, and this was one of the first results: cauliflower soup!
Subsequently, pesto!

All in all, a very satisfying set of culinary experiences.

Procrastination Dinner

2009-05-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

A few girls and I got together a few weeks ago to study and work on our various term papers for our Baroque class - (un)fortunately we got distracted by our mutual love of food and ended up just creating a feast for ourselves instead. Well, what can you do when you live so close to the Gourmet Ghetto and Cheeseboard?

We made spicy pasta puttanesca (the secret is to add a little brown sugar when you're browning the onions), sautéed summer squash and bell pepper, and I added a little bit of mock boursin cheese on the side of my plate. And tangelos, Ritter dark chocolate with hazelnuts, and ginger tea for dessert! Maybe we didn't get any work done...but hell, it was worth it.

Portland Ephemera - March 20th-26th 2009

2009-04-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhh Portland! My hometown of the heart, so to speak. Stumptown Coffee, of course, is one of the major reasons to go to Portland, but instead of going to the original watering hole or any of the satellite Stumptowns, I prefer to get my fix at the Fresh Pot. Attached to the Powell's Books on Hawthorne, the Fresh Pot is the perfect place to get a cup of coffee or an espresso drink (pictured here) and settle down with a book or your laptop.

Taking MAX back from dropping Jesse (the boyfriend) off at the airport and reading John Berger. Portland has pretty excellent public transportation, with buses that go all over the five (yes five) quadrants of the city. And MAX, the light rail system, is reliable and also goes pretty much anywhere you need to go.

We took a trip out to the coast - the drive was incredibly intense since we drove out of Portland drizzle and into a snowstorm. We drove to Seaside, which is actually a horrible little carnival tourist town, but luckily we escaped quickly and drove out along 101. Hilariously enough, we found a town called Cooterville! No joke! Unfortunately, GoogleMaps doesn't believe me that it exists; I think the population was something like 12 people anyway. The coast was incredibly beautiful, all tiny towns that reminded me of Bolinas in West Marin.

Right near my friend's apartment is this bar called The Pub at the End of the Universe, and ever since I lived in Portland summer of 2007 I have wanted to go there and have a beer. Luckily, this time we did (and had an incredible dark cider that I can't for the life of me remember the name of), and we found this awesome sort of scratchy graffiti on one of the seats. Definitely one of my favorites!

I miss Portland...I have a feeling maybe I'll end up there when I want to raise kids, but for now the life and variety of the Bay Area, as well as the proximity to my family, are more relevant to me and to my process of figuring out my future.

Summer...

2009-02-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

How I miss it...

Bittersweet Cafe, Oakland CA

2009-02-19T18:01:00.000-08:00

Bittersweet Cafe is a tiny mecca for chocolate lovers tucked away into Oakland's Rockridge district. With friendly employees, an impressive array of chocolate bars and a growing selection of house-made confections, Bittersweet is the perfect place to spend a rainy hour or two.

Bars are divided into three sections: Dark, Milk, and Surprises! The particular chocolate pictured below is an Earl Grey-infused dark chocolate, with tiny crunchy nibs for added texture. There's a benefit here to spending too much money on chocolate; I don't know if it was just a Valentine's Day special, but we bought four bars and got a free aluminum tin to keep them in!

Divine ended up being my favorite - pure dark chocolate, with a really sweet and mild aftertaste; we got another bar that was 70% cacao (read: delicious) but was a little too acidic for me.

Besides their impressive array of chocolate, Bittersweet is, after all, a cafe. Go with any one of their chocolatey drinks, including Spicy! ("Hot and spicy, a kick of pepper and a hint of cinnamon and rose"), and you won't be sorry. They also supply Blue-Bottle coffee for all of your caffeine needs.

(First image from the Bittersweet website, second from my camera!)

Design Cravings

2009-01-26T16:33:00.000-08:00

As my roommate situation has finally evened out, with my new roommate comfortably inhabiting the spacious dining room that constitutes the second bedroom of my apartment, I find myself jonesing for interior design in an entirely new way. Up until relatively recently, I've been satisfied with tacking photos and posters up on my bedroom walls and tossing some blankets over the well-loved couch. But glancing through design blogs like Notcot.org and SF Art & Design Lover makes me want to decorate, decorate, decorate.

For starters, the Jo-8 colorful nesting coffee tables by London designer Timothy Schreiber make me want to have more dinner parties just so everyone can have their own table. Apparently based on Joseph Albers' 1927 Bauhaus design and made from aluminum, these lightweight (and colorful! COLORFUL!) tables would be perfect. I do have to admit, I like the color acrylic version that Notcot posted about much better than the aluminum model - frankly, it's prettier!

To continue the nesting theme, Generate Design, specifically the designer "morph," has produced nesting plastic kitchen implements! Far from the commonplace tablespoon/teaspoon measures, the set of 8 comes with not only tea- and table-spoons but large and small mixing bowls, a sieve, a colander, and measuring cups! Love the colors too. This also comes in a smaller size, a set of 5, which includes a juicer.

I'm starting to feel like the world of household design is splitting into different spheres; there's the everyday stuff you buy for its utility and its no-frills functionalism, like a blender or a refrigerator. But household design (specifically of consumer items) is also spinning off in a whole new direction: much like couture fashion, the consumable product is turning into something that is more about the construction than the function, something the average consumer might be intrigued by but is less than likely to buy. I find things like six-dimensional couches and light installations to be unbelievably, well, cool, but I'm not about to blow a whole bunch of cash on something that, let's face it, isn't so useful. The thing I like about the two products I listed above is not just their pretty colors and eye-catching symmetry; it's the efficiency of construction designed to increase functionality that really catches me.

2009-01-22T13:52:00.000-08:00

I've never actually taken anything but modern/contemporary or survey courses in the Cal Art History department, which I'm hoping to change this semester at least.

I'm waitlisted for HistArt 170, which focuses on Italian Baroque (i.e. post-Renaissance) art, including painting, architecture, and sculpture. The work at the left is Bernini's St. Theresa of Avila in Ecstasy (1647-1652), sculpted for the Cornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. I'm desperately hoping to get into the course; I'm high on the wait list but graduating seniors apparently have priority.

I'm particularly fascinated by the evolution of sculpture over the past 500 or so years; examining Bernini's work should be interesting.

The other course I'm actually enrolled in for this semester promises to be difficult, simply because of the density and relative obscurity of the reading; we're using Lives of the Artists (1550/1568) by the fellow pictured at the right (Giorgio Vasari) as a central text. I must admit, I do enjoy reading works that I may not have picked up otherwise, and of course expanding my knowledge base - that's why I'm in school, after all! But skimming even the introduction and the first one or two artists discussed has proven to be a somewhat yawn-inducing task.

That said, the professor teaching the course is particularly charismatic (although he speaks very slowly), and I feel privileged to take his course as this is his last semester teaching before he retires.

This course also discusses sculpture and architecture in addition to painting, which I find particularly relevant and interesting. Apparently, the five different types of classical columns (Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite) are designed according to a sort of Vitruvian Man principle; their diameter is proportional to their height based on the proportions in differently gendered human bodies. For example, the more slender columns, such as the Corinthian and Composite structures, are based on the more extreme (1 to 9 or 10) ratios of a woman's body, while the stockier columns such as the Doric or Ionic models are based on the broader construction of the male body.

I'm actually looking forward to this semester now, which I certainly wasn't before; modern and contemporary subjects, such as the study of new media or foreign propaganda, are usually what float my boat. But hearing the first few lectures and being presented with the opportunity of learning about something I've never even considered - well, how could I not be excited?

January Art Murmur

2009-01-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

Oakland, CA
02 Jan 2009.

Sleepy Kitty is Sleepy

2009-01-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

Click Me!

Happy (Very Belated) New Year!

2009-01-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Nicole is ready to party:
Me, I'm ready to recline in a corner with a cigarette and a glass of champagne:

Don't worry, he's ok :)

Hund-N-Flocken

2009-01-22T11:33:00.000-08:00

?? Weird.
Albany, CA

Lucky 13 - Alameda

2009-01-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

Photobooth.net is an excellent website, working to catalog pretty much everything about the lost art of the film photobooth. News, locations, pretty much if you can think of it, they've got it. In the words of creators Brian and Tim, Photobooth.net is "the most comprehensive photobooth resource on the internet."

Recently, my friend Caitlin and I found ourselves stuck in a bar in Alameda called Lucky 13 one Friday night. Lured by the promise of a girls' night out and trapped by our dependence on our one friend for a ride, we ended up tired around midnight with no reliable way to get home to Berkeley quite yet. So we ducked into the film photobooth they've got stashed away in the corner and snapped away! Eventually our ride got bored with talking to every guy in the bar and acquiesced to our pitiful pleas to go home, but the night was not totally wasted, not at all.

I generally troll Photobooth.net, because I'm addicted both to the Internet and to photobooths, and I realized that the Lucky 13 photobooth was miraculously undocumented! Thankfully I had taken a picture of the photobooth itself, and I sent it in to the site. You can see it posted here.

Also click on the photo strip to see a close-up of all the ridiculous faces we made :)

They Are Away, Can't You See?

2008-07-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Found one day at internship.
In SF.

13-year-old me in boy form

2008-07-05T19:13:00.002-07:00

A New Meaning of Watching the Time

2008-07-05T19:13:00.001-07:00

In Berkeley.

Good Advice

2008-07-05T19:11:00.001-07:00

I love creepy things.

2008-07-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

In San Francisco.

I Saw A Man Who Wasn't There

2008-07-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

In Berkeley.

Olafur Eliasson: The Remains

2008-07-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

This is all that remains of the Olafur Eliasson installation show at the SFMOMA. I saw the show again at the NYMOMA a few weeks ago, but somehow it wasn't as good as at the SFMOMA. I have decided to write a review, which is forthcoming, but for now enjoy these secretly-snapped photos of the remnants.

For Natalie

2008-06-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

Shoes

<3

A Retrospective

2008-05-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

I took a picture of the sky:

Because I didn't have to be here until fall!

Mission Women's Building Mural

2008-05-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

I have no words; pictures must suffice:

This is Why I Love My Friends

2008-05-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

I Want One

2008-05-22T13:13:00.000-07:00