Solstice sigh

Popping in to wish everyone a Winter Solstice full of light and wonder.  In the midst of the chaotic energy of the season, moments like the above have been restorative and nourishing.

Peace and joy.

Celebrating the beautiful now

I had an impromptu late lunch with Donna today and we got to talking.  I said something which surprised her: cooking is not in my nature.

Cooking is not in my nature.

Yup.

Cooking is something I do because I have to.  It is something I have had to do, having a child with multiple food allergies.  He was born allergic, thirteen years ago, so cooking for him/us is now old hat.  But, that has not changed the fact that my deepest desires do not ever involve cooking.

I don't begrudge it, despite having my moments of resenting the tedium of the toil.  (And it is something I have always enjoyed doing in celebratory spurts...Solstice parties, anyone?)  Luckily, what is in my nature, is having my breath taken away by the experience of beauty...something home cooking of whole foods is replete with.

I love food and find joy in celebrating even the smallest occasion for breaking bread.  The looks, the aromas, the textures, the flavors, the colors...the company, the communion, the connection...  I have learned some neat tricks, I have gained skills and my time in this earthly realm has most certainly been enriched in pleasurable ways because I have cooked and cooked and cooked.

But, it's true.  Cooking does not come naturally to me.  And times like now when life "stuff" converges and leaves me drained, it's good to acknowledge that home cooking takes time and energy for me, more than others.  I'm in a downshift right now and the imbalance is uncomfortable...but cooking will right itself again, soon, no doubt.

Peace.

Looking up, down and all around

Today's theme: things that caught my eye (and oftentimes my heart/soul).

The moon as we crossed the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland on our first night.

First morning.  Early morning jet lag did not persist.  The 3 o'clock dip did for awhile.

Gem and I took a neighborhood stroll our first morning.  He was antsy to get out of the house.  I took this shot because I loved the way the garbage cans dotted the street (garbage day).  But then Gem, who was walking uncharacteristically quite far ahead of me, crossed the street alone to get back to the house.  I hold him, his style, his pace, his path, fiercely close to my heart.

Seen on our walk.

A house near the Rose Garden.  For want of a better way to put it, they do a lot of cool stuff with rocks.

The rock people also like their newspapers.

Sag sat at this fountain in the Rose Garden for quite a bit.  He really wanted to go in it.  I think he was trying to figure out a way he could go in (without consequence) as much as he was enjoying the serenity of it all.

These numbers indicated years that donors made large contributions to the Rose Garden.  I liked the way they looked and the fabulous Bay Area light is always good for brilliant shadow-making.  Gem is an "aughts" baby.

Everyone loved this reclining chair.  I was a bit worried the kids were going to break it.  So inviting, though, could you blame them for enjoying it as kinesthetically as they could?

This was a sheer curtain in front of the stage curtain at Berkeley Rep, made for the play we saw.  It was hauntingly beautiful.

Leo in alert mode in the backyard.

Blue wagon in Mary and Nate's front yard in Berkeley.

Two pensive kids.

Three turquoise trucks seen from the walking path on the Oakland Estuary.

Three versions of Barbra.

Audrey and Leo starring in a post-apocalyptic universe.

Mystery (I take all blame, I did not note the artist or name of work) public art in Oakland.

Gem shooting footage for his vacation vlog.  Outside the Exploratorium in San Francisco.  The light, the light.  So fantastic and breathtaking.

This kid.  He spends so much of his time super comfortable...or super uncomfortable.  This is a good example of the former.  A sunny reverie by the bay while we waited for our friends.

Gem was reminded of reclining (ancient) Egyptian royalty when he spotted this chaise lounge outside the restrooms in the Exploratorium.  He lay right down for a reenactment.

Malachi may have been pondering fish here.  He loves them.

American River.

Dusk in Sacramento, evening breeze cooling the land down.

Night play.

A sweet little owl that reminded me of my grandmother who loved them.

Laundry day.  Sacramento has ideal line drying weather.  Jealous.

Reading the funnies.

This was a display at the train museum in Sacramento.  The telephone operator's lunch remains!  I adored the pewter salt shaker and eggshell pieces.

From an exhibit of produce crate labels at the train museum.

Stained glass train window at the train museum.

Light fixtures in the Tower movie theater, Sacramento.

Erika and Charlie.  A huge and palpable sigh of relief as Charlie turned a corner and started healing the day before we left.

My favorite of Malachi's displayed paintings.

Cap and Sag under the eucalyptus trees, Berkeley.

Leo snuggling.

Sag in contemplation.  The super comfy being in the super comfy chair.

Mary's birthday pot de crème with whole wheat hazelnut shortbread at Zut! in Berkeley.

This is a cool underpass mural in Oakland that says "eRACISM".

Noticed his body filling the space differently.  I may have a shot of him on their steps when he was wee.

Alameda view before stepping into the restaurant for dinner.

Peace and love.

Food, flora, fauna

I was able to keep up with my Chinese herbs, including the jet lag ones.  Happily, none of us needed the "food poisoning" ones (for any extreme digestive disruption).  I was bummed to find the Calm packets unavailable in stores in Oakland and Sacramento.  Next time I will pack a full supply at home.

The produce in California, for those of you not lucky enough to know, is outrageously good, and seasonal, year round.  Audrey had picked these strawberries up the day before our arrival at a farmer's market.  They were bring-tears-to-your-eyes delicious.  Simple, sweet, flavorful, juicy.

Leo was under the weather for a couple of days recovering from a bad infection.  He perked up and was back to himself by the time we were leaving.  He's a handsome love.

Feeding this one while away, I ain't gonna lie, was tough.  He loves sushi, but not all sushi is created equal (and there isn't much that is worse in the culinary world as bad sushi) and, as it turned out, even he will get tired of eating it.  We were always close to natural food markets, but I underestimated how much time I would need at my disposal to plan and prepare meals for him being on the go as much as we were.  He was a trooper.

Burrito #1: Los Cantaros.  From a taqueria on Lake Merritt near the Oakland Whole Foods.  Very fresh and yummy.  This was a super carnitas with refried beans (guac and sour cream in addition to the rice, beans and cheese of a regular).

Barbra took us to the Morcom Rose Garden.  A true city oasis.  I am not a big fan of roses, but these blooms were gorgeous.

Branches and stonework in the Rose Garden.

The mind boggling yogurt case at the Oakland Whole Foods.  Gem discovered that he likes Greek style strawberry coconut yogurt on this trip.

I went out for Thai food one night before seeing a play.  I was still so full from the burrito I'd had for lunch that I kept it simple: coconut soup and a few bites of jasmine rice.  The soup was a wonderful treat for the senses.  Yum.

Rachael came over for lunch one day.  It was sooooo nice to hang out with friends while cooperatively putting together our lunch.  I get lonely cooking in my kitchen sometimes.  Chicken Cobb salad: chicken, bacon, avocado, tomato, lettuce, hard boiled egg and olives.  Outstanding.  (I made my favorite vinaigrette for the dressing.)

Barbra and Audrey have grape vines in their backyard.  2013 has proven to be a very good harvest year.  These gems burst with sweet flavor and juicy flesh and were quite addictive.

I love Eucalyptus trees.  The gnarls, the whorls, the sturdy yet soft quality of the trunk and bark, the unmistakable fragrance of the leaves at their dry, dusty roots.

These Eucalyptus trees were in Mary's family's local playspot in Berkeley.

Burrito #2: Picante.  Sublime.  My words cannot do it justice.  A super carne asada with refried beans.  YUM.  I look forward to eating another Picante burrito again next time I am out in the Bay Area.  Until then, I will happily abstain from all the lesser burritos out there for the taking.  I briefly considered driving out to Berkeley the night before we left to get a burrito for the plane.  (I didn't, dang packing!)  Picante has GF and vegan items clearly marked on their menus.  Gem enjoyed the steak tacos with lettuce and a lemonade.  It always pleases me to see him able to order something off a restaurant menu, safely.

One day, obliging the kids' specifications for a "flat" walk (vs. hilly hike), Barbra took us to a paved walkway along a section of the Oakland Estuary.  In the above shot you can see the control tower of the Oakland Airport across the water.

Here is a waterway coming into the estuary from the Oakland Hills.  After taking a tumble into the Google rabbit hole, I believe this is Damon Slough (fed by Lion and Arroyo Viejo Creeks).  (I have a tenacious desire to know the names of things.)

The kids appreciated the ease of this walk.  Sag thoroughly enjoyed having Barbra (and Leo) to himself for this outing.  By mid-visit he was asking Barbra if he could come back by himself sometime and stay with them for a month!

Dry grass.  So pretty.  (And such a hazard...Yosemite burned while we were on this vacation.)

More delectable local produce.  Simple and delicious lunch at home.

I had no expectations of staying strictly Paleo while away...and I didn't.  However, generally, I did not desire sweets.  This corn cherry scone from Arizmendi was remarkably enticing though.  There was a story, too.  I had heard that a childhood friend of the family, a kid my sister went to school with, was a baker at this worker-owned cooperative.  He was not working the day I stopped in during my last visit to Oakland.  But, this time, he was.  I was thrilled to not even recognize this dude (it had been over thirty years since we'd last seen each other) who has carved out a lovely life for himself out in Oakland, quite far from home.  I had a bite of this scone (Audrey's favorite) and it was lovely.

Food trucks!  On Friday night, Rachael and her family crossed the bay to have dinner with us.  Sag, in particular, is a big fan of food trucks and a little research revealed that Off The Grid would be at the Oakland Museum of California.

All thought it would be fun to give it a whirl...and it was!

Sag and Gem had burgers and fries...

and I had the lechon burrito from the Hapa SF truck.  It was good, but next time I am going to try the lumpia.

Burrito #3: Hapa SF.  Massively slow roasted pork, avocado, jalapeño and rice.  Tasty and fresh.

Loved this bumper sticker.

After dinner we trekked over to Flavor Brigade for frozen custard and ices, Philly style.  Yum!

Kept it real (and delicious) with scrambled Sonoma Valley eggs and lovely local lettuce for a breakfast at home.

Metabolic Frolic.  Good name for a band.  I thought this was hilarious, courtesy of Barbra and Audrey's pantry.

We met Malachi and Erika at the Exploratorium in San Francisco on Saturday morning (and headed to Sacramento later that day).  There are pics of that outing coming later.  The quinoa hijiki salad I had for lunch at the museum was really good.  It was nice to find something scrumptious and right up my culinary alley in a somewhat institutional setting.

Sacramento, our old and brief stomping grounds, is located in the delta where the Sacramento and American Rivers meet.  During this visit, we hiked a section of the American River with Malachi, Erika, Jerry and Mike.

Sacramento is very arid and the river and its shores bring to the landscape lush and welcome spots of green.

I could not resist popping into our formerly local Japanese supermarket, Oto's.

And I was in seventh heaven back in one of my favorite stores ever, the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op.  I had a lovely lunch of potato salad and curried chicken salad after our hike.

Burrito #4: La Favorita Taqueria.  Our Sacramento go to burrito.  Cap went out with Jerry one night for a late dinner.  I'd already eaten, but I couldn't resist...I asked him to bring me back a "small" super burrito (no meat).  Yum.

Charlie.  She was in a lot of pain during our visit, but things started looking up right before we left.  Sweet, soulful pup.

Cap popped into our old favorite bakery one morning.  This was the official turning point where I leaped off the Paleo wagon with both feet.  I wanted a chocolate croissant, but it being a week day, they didn't have them.  So, instead, I had this delicious chocolate studded brioche.

The biggest marigold I ever saw.

Chinese Elm and Palm, side by side.

Hornets nesting in the backyard laundry line structure.  Luckily, they shooed me away without using their stingers!

I love the patio of the Tower Café.  Love, love, love.  The food is good, too, and it is conveniently located adjacent to the Tower movie theater and a free parking lot.

Erika and I went out to dinner, a movie and the indie book shop, one evening.  This was my view during dinner.  Sigh.

Palm trees being hit with setting sun rays.

The last thing we did in Sacramento was enjoy a box of GFCF cupcakes from Pushkin's.  Cap picked these beauties up after his lunch with Ellen.  From the upper left: chocolate coconut, salted pecan crunch, Ande's mint, vanilla blackberry, raspberry, and barracuda (chocolate chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache).

I had the salted pecan crunch.  This was a good cupcake.  The frosting had a slightly foamy quality to it that I did not care for, and, it bordered on ragingly sweet for this relatively sugar-free girl.  But, the flavors were spot on, especially the maple in the frosting.

We drove straight to Berkeley that afternoon for our second visit with Mary and her family.  While the menfolk hung out with the kidlets, I took Mary out to dinner for her birthday and she introduced me to the amazing food at Zut!

I started with the Brussels sprouts with bacon, garlic, lemon and Parmesan cheese.  It was bright and savory with wonderful texture.

I was delighted with the bucatini.  The thickness of the pasta reminded me, favorably, of udon noodles.  The serving was a perfect fistful bursting with color and comfort.  Yum.

For dessert I had a heavenly few bites of the summer berry galette with crème fraîche ice cream.  The ice cream was one of my favorite bites of the year.  The slightly sour, incredibly refreshing quality of the rich cream just sent me.  I LOVED it.  I was fully sated before I finished it...such a strange new reality!
 

We spent much of our last day in San Francisco.  After meandering through the wonderful Cartoon Art Museum (pics to follow in another post), we met Lana for lunch at the Ferry Building.  Lana and the kids enjoyed burgers and fries (the sweet potato fries are gluten-free) at Gott's.

I bided my time and loved up some empanadas for my lunch.  The mushroom one was solid, but oh my goodness, the Carne (grass-fed beef, olives and raisins) was fantastic.  So yummy.

I was most excited, though, with our visit to the Mariposa Baking Co. outpost.  Barbra had mentioned this gluten-free bakery to me before our visit, and we had not made it to the Oakland storefront.  Gem selected the sesame bagels for flight home food.  It was a magical moment taking hold of a bag of fresh and wonderfully aromatic bagels made in a gluten-free bakery.  Sigh.  Gorgeous.

Barbra and Audrey have a lovely landscaped front yard.  I could not photograph it to my satisfaction.  One of the many plants that caught my eye was called salvia.  This, too, I could not photograph to my liking.  This pic, though, taken our last evening in Oaktown, I dug this.  Salvia petals on the stoop.

I also loved this mystery magenta leaf.

We picked the site of our last supper early on.  A sushi restaurant in Alameda that the kids enjoyed the last time they visited.  I love the location, right on the water, and the food is fresh and very good.  I normally don't go for oshinko at Japanese restaurants because it just seems so pedestrian (having grown up experiencing these condiments as very much "every day", but this night, I craved the crunchy tang of these pickled veg.  The colors can't be beat, either (highly unnatural, I am sure).

I went with a bento box for my dinner.  I was in the mood for lots of little things.  This was agedashi tofu...a dish that can go soggy and wrong fast.  These were lightly fried and delish.

Good tempura is so hard to find.  Remarkably so.  I've been spoiled by being fed homemade tempura regularly as a child, and, being treated to tempura in restaurants that only do tempura and are renowned for their tempura, in Japan.  This tempura, was among the best I've had in a restaurant, stateside.  There was a homemade quality to it, that I appreciated.

A spicy scallop handroll.  Yum, yum, yum.  The sushi in this joint is fresh and the servings of the good stuff (the fish) are generous.  They totally deserve to rock their name with pride: Sushi House.

What I saw as we left the restaurant.  A view I could totally live with (the bay spreads out to the left of this shot).  Sigh.

I am pooped!  And really missing these places and people.

Peace and love.