Yearly Archives: 2006

Senior prom

Matthew and Jon ready to go to the Albany High senior prom

Senior prom tonight, and look out!

Matthew Valencia and Jon Hampton-McKean are heading out in style to the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco, California,  for Albany High School’s 2006 Senior Prom.

There will be international food stations and dancing.

My senior prom was in the gym of my high school.  Clearly things have changed.

Getting these two ready was a challenge since they wanted to look JUST SO.

Berry seems to have a built-in antenna that draws him directly to people who are going to a special event and cannot afford to have his hair all over them.  The more you need him away, the more suspicious he becomes and the more tenacious.  Throughout the late afternoon there were cries of, “Berry, get away from me!” and “Berry keeps trying to rub his neck on my tux!”

When they left, Steven, my mom and I had a nice dinner and watched a movie.

Matt and Jon rolled in about 3 a.m. – having  taken the night owl bus to the East Bay from the Transbay Terminal – with stories of the grand food and class that pervaded the affair.

Ah, to be young men about town in the magic that is late-night Nob Hill and Union Square!

Tom’s 40th birthday

Roasted vegetable plate for a party

My friend Marq, an always-vegan, threw a surprise party for his partner, Tom, a mostly-vegetarian, often-vegan, where vegan food was served. Including the cake.

Now, as many of my friends know, I like to eat what grows in the earth and have nothing against vegetarian cuisine. What I don’t like is gluten that parades around as New York strip. You’ve heard the comments: “Oh, that braised portabella and tofu cutlet was sooo rich, just like steak!” No it wasn’t. It was a good braised mushroom and tofu cutlet.

When you think about it, carnivorous cooks often prepare vegan food without paying attention. Some dishes are intrinsically vegan, like hummus, and almost everyone likes them. Really, who among us doesn’t appreciate a nice bruschetta?

As long as there’s mouthfeel and a flavor profile it can put its shoes under my bed.

The food served at Tom’s party was like that. Methinks the chef went through quite a bit of olive oil.

Easter 2006

Roast potatoes in duck fat

Roast potatoes in duck fat

Today, Easter Sunday, we made a nice dinner of roast duck, potatoes roasted in duck fat and braised red cabbage.  Duck fat…….mmmmmm.  I was able to harvest enough to use for a couple of months.

Tea eggs

Tea eggs

I also made some tea eggs.  Wanna know how to make them?  Check out the story I wrote for the SF Chronicle last year.

Easter eggs

Easter eggs

We also made a nice batch of regular old colored eggs, too.

Happy Easter, all!

One Market

Zvi Galil at One Market restaurant in SF

Zvi Galil came to town to speak and we were able to grab a meal with him at One Market in San Francisco this evening. There is nothing like seeing friends from Columbia University — where I worked for a number of years before moving West — and sharing some memories and laughs. By the time Zvi was photographed at One Market he had been wined and hors d’oeuvred at the Presidio by the folks hosting the Columbia group. That didn’t stop him from grazing at this meal; Zvi has an appetite second only to my mother. We enjoyed the food and the service was swell, but I was too engaged in social activities to take notes.

Don’t drink and drive

Coffee spill in the car

Matthew and I grabbed two iced lowfat decaf lattes from the drive-thru Starbucks on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito this afternoon. They were pretty good. Pretty good up until Matthew’s defective plastic cup collapsed and sent drink and ice cubes south. We drove home wet with a lake of milk and coffee in the change cup between us. Since Matt couldn’t reach the whole spill during clean-up, I’m sure this will be a gift that will keep on giving. I’m thankful there was no sugar involved.