Author Archives: Renate Valencia

Daimo for Breakfast

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Plate of BBQ duck at daimo

BBQ Duck at Daimo restaurant in Richmond, Cali

Today Steve and I took our Mothers to Daimo (3288A Pierce Street, Richmond) for some BBQ duck.  Daimo is a big, noisy comfortable place situated outside Pacific East Mall.  The menu is broad but heavily Cantonese.  Dim sum, noodles, BBQ, congee — like that.

Now, when Daimo’s BBQ duck is good, it is REALLY good.  It’s meaty and fragrant and served atop soybeans that quickly become bathed in duck fat as the meal progresses.

We rarely order BBQ duck anywhere else since it never measures up.

Given that celebrating an event and not worrying about saturated fat are synonymous in my family, we also ordered pig knuckles; Matthew’s upcoming graduation was more than enough to justify this plateful of sin.

pig knuckles at daimo

Pork Knuckles at Daimo restaurant in Richmond, Cali

Elaine and Matthew don’t go for knuckles, but my Mom, Steven and I were in stiff competition for a fair share of this gelatinous delight.

If you are in the area before 11 a.m. on a weekday, they have a great breakfast special that includes an item of your choice and a big bowl of congee (rice porridge) for around 6 bucks.  The item of my choice is always the steamed pork dumpling, which is a huge triangle of sticky rice stuffed with pork and salted duck egg and then steamed in a lotus leaf.  I would not suggest this meal to a person on a low glycemic diet, but it is tasty and will sustain you for hours if you are headed to nearby Costco.

Matthew’s High School Grad Bash

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Matthew and friends at high school grad party

Tonight we had the main bash for graduate Matthew at Albany Community Center, where we rented one of the rooms.  Man, the rules.  Brutal.  It costs, too.

We schlepped in prepared food from 99 Ranch Market (3288 Pierce Street, Richmond). They don’t deliver, so we had to go get it.  Matthew made some great selections, and a number of our Asian guests were pleasantly surprised to see fried belt fish and curry fish balls on the buffet, though I can’t say the same for the Caucasians.

The price more than made up for the must-pick-up situation.

Everything worked without a hitch.  We had choreographed well in advance and also had an extra set of hands in the form of one Uncle Bill.  Bill made it clear that he wanted to be a worker bee and not a planner.

We needed to decorate quickly due to cutthroat policies employed by the City of Albany in their facility rental operation.  We nabbed the food at 99 Ranch and the coffee at Peet’s after preliminary work.

The sound system — a set of powered speakers and three iPods — was brought over in our initial trip, so I hooked that up while my Mom handled decorations, tablecloths and chip and dip setups.

Meantime, Steve went to BevMo to get ice for a  massive soda operation.  Soda had been delivered to the house by Safeway and stored in the garage.  Soda is about the only thing I would trust Safeway with in terms of home delivery.  The few times I tried their delivery service it was a mess.  I didn’t get things I paid for and got things I didn’t pay for and didn’t want.  I don’t want 6 egg custard pies in lieu of a prime rib.

There was the matter of those horrible foil chafing dishes.  We had to have them ready when the food arrived.  We had nine, and they required their own trip over in our Civic because their wire frames are so large and they don’t nest.

After this experience I can appreciate why people have SUVs.

The only thing that was crap, in terms of ingredients — other than the soda and some of the chip-like substances — was the chocolate cake.  It was from Costco and loaded with trans fat.  If there was any butter in that cake at all I wouldn’t know because I fell asleep reading the list of ingredients before I ever got to it.  Note on 12/3/12:  Costco has since removed trans fat from their All-American Cake — the one we had at this party 

Matt and his friends had a great time, and we all keeled over at midnight.

High School Graduate Matthew

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Matthew's graduation audience at Albany High - Albany California

Congratulations HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE Matthew!

Tonight we had a carvery at the house, comprised of a rare roast sirloin of beef, a whole roasted turkey, Acme sourdough rolls and a boatload of sandwich trimmings.

The backyard was outfitted with lanterns and looked extra special.  All the people Matthew loves were at the evening do, including Uncle Bill, who flew in from New Jersey to celebrate the graduation.

Matthew, Ross and Jon at party on Talbot Avenue in Albany California

My mother and I were fairly whipped at the end of the evening and were glad to get a night’s sleep before the “real” party tomorrow night.  The young men conked out at about midnight.

Thai Black Sticky Rice Pudding

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Blacky sticky rice pudding

Last night I made some Thai black sticky rice pudding.  One of my fellow interns at the SF Chronicle was testing a recipe for this on a day I wasn’t scheduled to be in, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

When I was at 99 Ranch Market yesterday, bags of black glutinous rice were giving me the eye.  I grabbed one, headed home and threw a few cups in to soak.

You should check this dish out.

For a basic version you’ll generally need only black glutinous (AKA “sweet” or “sticky”) rice, coconut milk, sugar and salt.  Black sesame seeds for topping, if you like.  The result will be sweet, nutty, creamy and a whisper salty.

The steamed black rice will have a deep purple color. Don’t wear a white shirt while working with it.

Here’s a good basic recipe, and you can adjust the sugar, coconut milk and salt as desired after you try it as-is once.

Don’t leave out the salt, though, because it serves as a counterpoint to the sweet element. Its absence will be conspicuous.

Here’s the one from the SF Chronicle that I missed that day.

Albany (Cali, not NY) High School Award Ceremony

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Matthew at albany high's award ceremory in 2006Albany High had its annual award ceremony for graduating seniors today, and Matthew got a social science award for his prowess in American history, current events and the political scene.

There was a lunch provided.

Juniors served up large plates of ripe strawberries, wraps and cupcakes as seniors lorded over them.  I remember the whole senior gloating thing and it was fun to see Matthew and his crew in full swing with it.  It was all in good fun, though.  These are nice kids.

Matt’s Grandmothers were very proud of their guy.

Grandmothers and Matt at Albany High awards in 2006