A glimpse of spring...

So far I have to say that this year has been pretty great.  I started it off wonderfully with what was probably the most inspiring trip of my life thus far,  but besides that I'm not sure if the glow I see everything with now really exists, or whether it's just a change in my perspective.  More on that at a later time, perhaps.

(The only bump I've had in this beautiful year has been my beloved 49ers fumbling away a Super Bowl, which surprisingly has rocked my world almost as much as a break-up would I imagine.  I suppose the only thing that will take my mind off it until football returns is Buster Posey being back on the mound.  I couldn't imagine a more perfect rebound.)

Over this past weekend the sun came out full force and bumped up the temperature into the upper 60's.  With no clouds and no breeze, it felt entirely like spring had arrived!  Knowing that in true California fashion it would be short lived, on Friday I lived it up and got some ice cream at...

Smitten Ice Cream

432 Octavia (@Linden)

San Francisco, CA 94102

I ordered chocolate...

and it was sooooo incredibly creamy and rich.  *Almost* too much for me.  Next time I will try vanilla!

What's cool is that they don't make it until you order it, and you get to see the whole process.

It's hard to look at this and think that it's January here.

Beautiful day, beautiful city!

Speaking of beautiful city, I snapped this from my practice room window sometime last week as the sun was going down.  Gorgeous.  Just, gorgeous.

Food Favorites

There are few things in life that make me as happy as the following three items:

Boba/Pearl Milk Tea from:

Tea Station

39115 Cedar Blvd.

Newark, CA 94560

Yes, this is an international chain and I've been to many of the ones in LA as well, but nothing tops the milk tea from this unassuming Newark location!  These are better than all the ones I've ever had in SF, and even Asia! I'm convinced they're the best in the world.  The pearls are flavorful and chewy (not bland, soggy, or hard), and the flavor is distinctly Taiwanese.  Love! 

(P.S. You get 10% off for ordering to-go)

Double-Double Burger from In-N-Out.

I rarely eat fast food, but when I have to, this is what I get.  Double-Double is as much as I can fit in my mouth at one time, or else I'd pile on even more scrumptious layers!

#8 House Special Spicy Noodle Soup (with hand-pulled wide flat noodles)

This has got to be one of my all-time favorite foods of my entire life! (And thats a special spot because my top 100 things in life is probably all food.  And football.)

QQ Noodle

3625 Thornton Avenue

Fremont, CA 94536

In Chinese, "QQ" is a kind of slang that refers to something that is perfectly chewy - not hard, and not soggy/mushy.  These noodles are all hand-pulled for the perfect degree of QQ-ness!  I've never ordered anything besides the house special, #8 extra spicy, and I've never needed to.  I've tasted just about everything else on the menu when others have ordered - and nothing beats this in my humble opinion!  I can take QQ any day, any time of day.  

I guess you could say these are a few of my go-to comfort foods, I will never say no to any one!

Thanksgiving Break Part I: Harbowl + A Taste of Taiwan

My Thanksgiving Break began on Wednesday when I went shopping with family for some winter clothes for my ever growing little bro.  He is turning 15 in a few weeks and since last May, has been growing about 1-2 inches/month.  I have a newly acquired  understanding of the expression, "growing like a weed"!

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, my mom and I did some grocery shopping at Marina Foods in Fremont, then had the most amazing lunch I've had in a while!  My mom grew up in Taiwan so since I was little, I've been exposed to some amazing Taiwanese food.  Not going to lie, this is what I miss the most in SF cuisine - where Asian food is predominantly Cantonese.

We went to the newly opened:

Fusion House

46228 Warm Springs Blvd.

Fremont, CA 94539

And I thought I'd died and gone to Taiwan when I opened the menu.  Here finally, was a place where I could indulge in my favorite Taiwanese foods, authentically made, and actually afford to pig-out too!  Needless to say my mom and I stuffed ourselves and left VERY happy.  These are some of my favorite Taiwanese dishes:

I believe this is called the "Glutinous Cupped Rice," it's one of my mom's favorites.  She's a total rice person, whereas I am the Noodle Queen.  (Yes, that is actually a title which was bestowed upon me when I was only five years old but had already manifested a clear preference in carbohydrate selections.)

This is my favorite - apparently, in English, it's called "pottage," news to me as I only ever knew what it was called in Taiwanese!  So "pottage" is basically skinny brown noodles (not to be confused with vermicelli - completely different) in a clear jelly-like thick soup, with different flavors.  My favorite is intestine, this one has both intestine and oyster.  I know it must sound disgustingly terrible to non-Chinese, but please don't freak out until you try it, it's DELICIOUS.

This is probably tied for favorite in my book.  It's called something slightly different at different places, but basically it's a big meat ball inside of a glutinous shell.  So difficult to describe but it will blow your mind and explode your taste buds with wonder!

Lastly my mom and I split another staple - the oyster and egg pancake. It's oyster and egg (duh) inside of a fried jelly-like skin, and it's so amazing!  They put some kind of ketchup-y concoction over it and the sauce is beyond delicious.

Then I came home in the afternoon, cleaned the house a little, and planted myself right in-front of the tv for the much awaited Thanksgiving Niner Game vs. the Baltimore Ravens, which us fans had lovingly dubbed Harbowl.  (For non Niner/football fans, this is because the Ravens are coached by John Harbaugh, elder brother by 15 months to Niner head coach Jim Harbaugh.)

(C)Dave Reginek/Getty Images; Nick Wass/Associated Press

Unfortunately...it was probably by far the most depressing game I had watched all season.  It wasn't even  torture anymore, pain is probably a better way to describe it.  First of all, the Niner's offensive line was all but non-existent, leading to Alex Smith getting sacked 9 times.  Nine times!!!  I cowered shamefully beneath my blanket on the couch.  The poor guy didn't even get a chance to play.  Snyder's presence was definitely missed.

Secondly, the refs made some terrible calls throughout the game that really set the niners back, the worst of which being the chop block penalty called on Rachal which wiped out what would have been Ted Ginn Jr.'s 75-yard touchdown catch.  It was a magical moment, quickly whipped away.  If you watch the replay, I can understand why "technically" the refs had the right to make the call, but that only makes it a "correct call," it was by no means a "good call," as Jim Harbaugh so classily refered to it as, in the post-game press conference.  I seriously give him props for taking the high road with all this, because the good Lord knows I was bashing my head on the wall in disgust when this happened.  Refs let penalties like this go, ALL THE TIME, taking things into context, and I was convinced (and still am) that the refs just wanted to give the fans in Baltimore a Thanksgiving present.  That call totally changed the dynamics of the game, in my opinion, and it was just abysmal from there on out.  Add to it the lack of O, and well...that was that.  

Needless to say, I have full faith that we will be geared up and back ready to go for Sunday's game against the Rams!  In any case, I suppose now is the time to explore weaknesses and areas for improvement, so we can go FTW in the post-season!!

Sushi in the Golden State

This week has been strangely reversed.  When my weeks normally start headed downhill, hit the bottom at Wednesday, then slowly climb back up towards the end, this week started off fantastically well, then slowly fizzled to a lack-luster Friday afternoon.  I'm attending a concert tonight that should be promising, so hopefully some Schoenberg & Chamber Music will turn things around for me.

On Wednesday, I ended up dining solo, and decided nothing would be more comforting than my favorite cuisine: Japanese.  Since I am a quarter Japanese and grew up on the food, I am extremely hard to please.  There wasn't much time so I went to O-Toro Sushi, which is literally about 4 minutes walking distance from my school, and I was surprised to be blown away by the deliciousness! 

O-Toro Sushi

205 Oak Street

(between Gough & Octavia)

San Francisco, 94102

The only way to eat alone is to really pig out, so I ordered a hot Nabeyaki Udon to counter the cold wintery weather we've been having, and also ordered a Golden State Roll to satisfy the sashimi-lover in me.  Of course while I waited I was sipping on my hot Green Tea.  

Story:  My mother has been feeding me tea since I was a wee lass.  When I was a baby, mother's American friends would ask if I was drinking apple juice, looking at the color of the liquid in my bottle, which was clearly not milk.  And my mother would reply, "Nope, she's drinking tea!"  As a result, to this day I still guzzle tea like a camel.  In fact, in one day I could probably easily consume double the amount of tea than I could water.

Anyway, back to the food.  What initially caught my eye about the Golden State Roll was - I'm not going to lie - the name.  I guess you could say this whole lockout business has got me missing our Warriors, so I'll take any Golden State I could get at this point, even if it comes on my food.  Of course, I also love salmon sashimi so this was a double delight.  

I was completely impressed with how fresh the fish was, and the fact that the *real* snow crab inside the roll tasted great.

  

Then came the Nabeyaki Udon, which was also great.  I appreciated the fact that my egg actually came raw, which was nice because a) that means the soup is actually as hot as it's supposed to be, and b) I could take care of the egg the way I wanted to.  I hate it when the soup comes out in this impressive looking clay pot but is only moderately hot.  What's the point?!  The tempura was also delicious, and there was more chicken on the bottom than I could finish.

All in all, a great experience, and I will definitely be back!  Don't let the small front and simple menu fool you, this place is great.

A Little Piece of South

I'm really quite in love with Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen, in Berkeley, and was thrilled to have another opportunity to go again recently.  I'm not from the south, nor have I ever been there, but a friend of mine who was born and raised in the ATL vouched for the authenticity and wonders of the food here - including the sweet tea.  That's got to be a good sign right?!  Here's a little sampling of some of their amazingness...

Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen

2261 Shattuck Avenue

(between Bancroft and Kittredge)

Berkeley 94704

Buttermilk Fried Chicken with beans, mashed potatoes and some special sauce

Fried catfish with Hushpuppies and the most amazing potato salad...it was super spicy and I loved it!

One of my two most favorite mac and cheese's of all time.

Not pictured:  the sweet tea and sparkling house lemonade, both of which are amazing.  Also, last time I went in the winter and they had some crab soup special that was unbelievable.  Still have yet to remember to leave room for beignets.  Next time!

My Week in Food: What's In My Belly

The weeks just really fly by now, every time it's Sunday again I can't believe it, because it felt like yesterday was just Sunday!  There was no niner game this weekend because it was bye week...and I was very lonely without my game.  It was a well-timed break though, because this Sunday was so crazy I didn't even have a spare minute!

Here's what I've been grubbin' on lately to keep me grinding through busy days and weeks...

Made some whole wheat apple muffins to share with my students...they were a hit!  I adapted it from this recipe, and substituted orange juice for milk because I didn't realize until halfway through that I didn't have any.  Extremely grateful they turned out well!  They baked a lot faster than I expected though, so the edges got a little burnt and I had to ever-so-gracefully slice them off.

The Busquat sandwich I ordered from Frjtz.  Was good, but would have been better with fries! Remember this post?!

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of some good wine, and this is one of my go-to favorites.  I had to enjoy this one on my own so sadly I didn't finish it before it turned...but I enjoyed every sip I had!

 Folie à Deux: Ménage à Trois Red

Tried out a new pho place and enjoyed it! Phö is one of my all-time favorites.  I love noodles in general, and phö just really takes the cake.

Kim Son Vietnamese Restaurant

3614 Balboa Street 

(between 37th & 38th Ave.)

San Francisco

Sometimes I just feel my body telling me that I need more veggies!  One of my most favorite salads is actually from Safeway - it's their Apple Walnut Grilled Chicken Salad, with feta cheese and cranberries. It's unbelievably delicious! This month is Breast Cancer month, so they swapped out their usual green trays for these pretty pink ones.  Love!

On Saturday I got my ultra-sensitive and damaged teeth cleaned, and was too sore to chew afterwards, so I went to King Noodle and just ordered a small bowl with the fewest meats possible.  King Noodle is kind of not the epitome of fine dining, but it's fast, cheap, and hit the spot when I was in a hurry, short on moolah, and hungry for something soft, so I can't complain!  Oh, and I saved the meatballs for a doggy friend of mine!

Over the weekend I got invited over to a friend's house for dinner and they - knowing my penchant for reds - had a delicious merlot corked and waiting for me upon my arrival.  Ahh, ma vie c'est grande!

I Love You Tomorrow...You're Only A Day Away

Today was a rather disappointing day, on most fronts.  I don't know what it is about Wednesdays, but somehow they always seem to come and go with far more negatives than positives.  I guess we need days like this to help us appreciate the days that are better right?

One example of how today failed me is...I was hoping to have two excellent restaurant reviews by tonight! But yep you guessed it, I have zero.

For lunch, I hopped into Frjtz, just a few blocks away from school.  It sounded promising and the pictures looked good.

Well, it turns out, I walked in to put my order in and as I was just about to order my fries (I even had my dipping sauce all pre-picked out already too), I was informed that the fryer was broken and that there were no fries.  Disappointment!  When the name of your restaurant IS essentially a fancy foreign-sounding name for "fries," it's a total let down to not have it! Shouldn't that be illegal somehow?  Can you imagine walking into Popeye's and being told their fryer was down and they didn't have fried chicken that day?

Then for dinner, my friend and I hopped into Canto Do Brasil, because it is literally a 90 second walk away from school and she had even more of a time constraint than I did.   I actually like Canto Do Brasil quite a bit, it's a little less pricey if you go for lunch, and because it's so close and by far the most decent eatery in the vicinity of my school, I've been a few times.  The food is always good, and they give you this amazing spread with the complimentary bread (that is always oh-so-perfectly soft and fresh) that I always end up cleaning out anyway, far after the bread has all been consumed.  I like their calamari as well.

Today though, I ended up waiting 35 minutes for my food!  That's probably a bit on the long side at any joint, but particularly when you're pressed for time.  It was so bad that I had to ask for a to-go box before my food even arrived.  My friend had all but finished by the time my food/to-go box arrived.  The wait is usually never that long...I'm not sure what it was.  I guess they were having a case of the Wednesdays also.

So...hopefully I will be able to try both places again and have better results next time!  I am a firm believer in second chances because really...don't we all need it from time to time?

Food Review: Sri Thai Cuisine

The other day I had a slightly longer break so we tried Sri Thai in Outer Sunset.

Sri Thai Cuisine

4621 Lincoln Way

San Francisco 94122

Cute wine holder. Cute decor throughout. Probably the biggest selling point of this place.

I'm a HUGE Thai cuisine fan so you've got to be pretty darn awesome to stand out at this point.

We ordered the Thai Samosas, deep fried "thai-style wontons" as I call them, stuffed with pumpkin and yams.  They were ok.

The "Spicy Noodle" dish is pretty much Pad Kee-Mao at any other restaurant, but for some reason they take out the name here and just call it "Spicy Noodle." It was good, but again, nothing that blew my mind.

There was also a fried banana ice cream dessert, but sadly I forgot to take a picture.  That was okay as well. 

All in all, an interesting experiences, by no means bad, better than many other thai places, but nothing on my two favorites.

Summer-Back Weekend

Another great weekend gone by, and summer decided to come back and visit again for a few days.

My weekend was wonderful, I got to enjoy the world's best hot-pot with some of my dearest friends...

(with lamb, tempura, lots of tofu, lots of veggies, beef balls, fish balls, mushrooms, yam...yummmmm)

And on Sunday, while enjoying my Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup...

(In my chicken soup I usually put onions - white and green - tomatoes, half a lemon, garlic, napa cabbage, and today I ran out of cilantro so it's less pretty.)

...I got to watch these guys...

...do a lot of this...

 ...this...

...and this!

...culminating in an amazing, 48-3 win over the Tampa Bay Bucs.  Really? Let's say that again shall we?  Yes, you read correctly.  Fourty-eight over three.  Needless to say I was seeing stars for the rest of the day.  And the best part of about it was, it was a clean, solid game for San Francisco - the Niners played exceptionally today, they were every where and every thing they needed to be.  And it shows.  48-3.

In some other news on this beautiful football Sunday that was surprising to me, the Seahawks beat the Giants in New York (Seahawks?! Really?! Who saw that one coming?); reigning champs Green Bay Packers, led by Aaron Rodgers, rallied back towards the end of their game to beat the Falcons and keep their (what is it now-11 games? if you carry over from last season) winning streak alive; and the Raiders beat Houston 25-20, making it all in all, a very good day for my beloved bay.  Al Davis would have been proud.  

Hope all of you out there are doing well and staying alive in your leagues, and enjoying the month of October in your own special ways!

My Favorite Thai 1

While in Fremont over the weekend, I had the opportunity to dine at one of my favorite Thai spots (I have two!) with my dear friend J.

Banh Thai

39060 Fremont Blvd.

(x Mowry Ave.)

Fremont, CA 94538

There are two things I always get while I'm at Banh Thai, one is of course, the Pad Thai (you can always tell if a Thai place is good by their Pad Thai), and the other is the Pad Kee Mao.  This time I ordered the Pad Thai.

Though we didn't have room for dessert this time (for dessert we went to Ulta instead...har har har), Banh Thai makes the BEST mango and sweet sticky rice I've ever had!! It's not always available since mangoes are seasonal and temperamental - but if you stop in, be sure to ask if they've got it!  If they do, you won't regret saving some room for it, I promise!

Since the weather has gotten cooler, I know I'll be hitting up my other Thai spot for some Tom Kha soup soon!

Local spot: Stacks!

This is a quick nod to Stacks - a breakfast and brunch restaurant located really close to my school, so when I'm looking for some American brunch, it's really easy to just pop on over and pop back without being late to any classes or rehearsals!  Even though they are famous for their pancakes, I'm not a huge pancake girl so I'm happy to discover that their other selectiosn are great as well!  Here are two options that I frequently turn to:

Stacks

501 Hayes Street

San Francisco, CA 94117

This is their grilled chicken sandwich.  Served with my favorite potatoes, a nice salad and fresh fruit. Great for a lighter option that'll still fill you up for a long time!

This is my other favorite dish, their fresh fruit crepe.  I always sweetly ask if it's okay that I have whipped cream only instead of whipped cream + Greek yogurt on top...and they always say yes! And it's perfect that way!

One thing I love a lot about Stacks is, their food is always so colorful and pretty! It makes it taste even better, and even looking at the pictures makes me smile!

Herbie's Caprese over Linguine

This has GOT to be my new favorite pasta, hands down.  Its only been a couple of days, but I'm craving it already!!!!

I got the recipe from one of my most favorite blogs of all time, Herbie Likes Spaghetti.  If you haven't seen this blog before, do go and check it out!

Here's the link to the recipe, which I followed exactly.

Mine didn't turn out as pretty (does it ever?!) but it tasted heavenly! Here's some pics to tantalize your taste buds!

I have been gifted a few times lately with home-grown tomatoes, nearing the end of their life span and needing to be used up.  Perfect for this pasta! The tomatoes are ripe, and oh-so-flavorful, seeing as they're "organic" and pesticide free!

Stirring the tomatoes with salt to draw out the juices.

Adding the basil and stirring it in, with black pepper also...

Mozzarella whom I love......

Look! The tomato mix has sat after being blended, all the juices are out, and it smells amazing already!

This picture truly does not do the sauce justice...and there is no way I can describe the amazing smell!! You simply MUST try it for yourself!

Here's my final product! Haha, told you, totally not as pretty.  But tasted sooo good I almost ate the entire two-person portion!

The best part about it is, I packed up the remainder of the pasta for lunch the next day, and it was simple AND delicious!  

Red Wine and Potatoes

A few nights ago we got invited over to my parents' best friends' house for dinner.  Amongst many delicious items, my Auntie made some amazing mini potatoes:

I'm not sure what they're called, but apparently you can pick them up at Trader Joe's. I'm going to have to give this one a try sometime.  It's made with only scallions, salt, and a little olive oil, and it really allows the fragrance and taste of the potatoes to shine. I'll have to get the exact recipe!

To go along with it, I picked up a bottle of my favorite red and brought it along to share:

This is a Vino Dei Fratelli Chianti - and it is to die for!!  Bold and smooth, it's a crowd pleaser everywhere I bring it to - it's my go-to dinner party wine, and a guaranteed success every single time.  

B's Home-style Blackened Chicken Alfredo

I love to eat alfredo pasta, but rarely find myself ordering it out because I always feel like I'm paying too much for something not so fancy.  One of my frequent stops for fast eating - BJ's - has a great Blackened Chicken Alfredo, and I decided I would try it out at home.

First, I found this recipe for a basic Alfredo and followed it exactly for my sauce.   The only thing I tweaked was...I like veggies a lot, so at the very end where it says to stir in parsley, I stirred in a bunch of spinach as well! 

I also have a tip about the cheese - previously I had just been using Lucerne or whatever brand was on sale at Safeway for shredded Parmesan cheese.  Well, this time, for about a dollar more I picked up a box of this:

I got it at my Safeway down the street - but not in the cheese aisle, in the deli section, on one of the little islands that holds all kinds of fresh cheese, right next to the island that holds all the salads and microwaveable soups.  I was skeptical (in the box, it looked no different from the bagged kind I usually buy) - but it melted SO much better.  I'm sold!! This will be my go-to cheese for sauces from now on.  If you can grate your own cheese fresh that's the best of course, but I never have the time/energy/desire, plus it freaks me out to have my fingers running back and forth over a grater (if you, like me, also use your hands/fingers as a career you understand what I'm saying).  Too close for comfort.

So here's what you need for ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1 cup heavy cream

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped Parsely

3/4 to 1 cup chopped spinach

1 package ready-to-serve grilled chicken breast

linguine 

This is unrelated and obviously not pasta - but I wanted to share what I was munching on while cooking!!  Anybody else like me - love eating so much you have to eat WHILE you're cooking the real food?!

Again - I'm always lazy/busy/tired so I like shortcuts.  For $2.99 I picked up a large package of Tyson's ready-to-eat Grilled chicken breast strips at Safeway.  They were of course tender and soft, but I wanted my chicken blackened.  So I threw it on over the stovetop and let it sizzle until it was nice and browned on both sides.  Easy and tasted perfect!

Multi-stove-tasking.   Making the sauce, boiling pasta water, and grilling chicken.

chopped up parsley and garlic ready to go!

Alfredo sauce coming together - by this point it smelled so good already!

Stirring in the parsley and spinach

This is what it looks like without the sauce! Just pasta topped with grilled chicken.

Ta-da!! The final product!!  Topped with extra parmesan cheese of course.  You know I love my pastas extra cheesy!

All in all, this was super easy, and super delicious.  And again, a hit with mom!! Definitely will be making it again soon.