musings.schelley.org

Tony always finds a clever way to celebrate his birthday. Birthday #25 was a huge party in his tiny Alamo Square studio, featuring Cuban food and sangria from Cha Cha Cha. I made what he announced were "fresh" carrot cakes for birthday wishes. He served us copious amounts of Chinese food for birthday #30, after which we participated in a blind wine tasting. I contributed a lemon hazelnut cheesecake for that celebration. I wrote about birthday #31, served by the vegan cult (see entry from February 2004, and yes, obviously, technical difficulties exist). A year later, we were requested to bring appetizers; he didn't have to cook for days as he consumed leftover food and tasty white sangria. I baked a hazelnut dome cake, made almost entirely of ground nuts and egg whites, molded in a bowl, soaked with ameretto and filled with chocolate ganache and whipped cream.

This year, Tony outdid himself. A few months ago, he placed the winning charity auction bid for an intimate dinner prepared and served by Spencer O'Meara, Executive Chef of Paragon. We were instructed not only to show, but to prepare a poem about dogs, in honor of the year of the dog. We gathered at David and John's beautiful home the night of his 33rd year.

Appetizers were taro chips topped with ahi tartare and mushroom cigars, light and crunchy fried tubes filled with an amazingly rich and complex reduced mushroom sauteed and dipped in aioli. Tony also supplied bottles of Schramsberg, the pink one, his favorite.

Spencer next served us a beautifully crafted beet salad. Thinly sliced beets were molded into a self-contained bowl filled with beet salad and topped with toasted macadamia nuts and goat cheese. It was impressive to admire and tasted fresh and earthy and of all of the goodness that beets bring to the table.

The majority enjoyed a seared white fish as a main course; the non-fish eater feasted on a 36-hour brined pork chop, the vegans butternut squash filled with quinoa. The meats were served on a bed of brussel sprout saute with applewood smoked bacon, chopped egg whites and perhaps some cauliflower. I believe that some sort of reduction also accompanied, although by this time, plenty of champagne and red wine had been consumed.

Per custom, I brought a birthday cake: a fluffy four-layer white coconut cake. I even added a layer of pineapple in the middle. Spencer, the professional chef, said it was excellent, which I took to be a very good complement. David and John also brought out bottles of Muscat and dessert wine.

The poems were read throughout the meal. They were amazing, humorous, sad, serious and just plain crazy. I didn't exactly read a poem; inspired by The Aristocrats, I told a dog-themed (and mainly G-rated) joke. Sadly, my execution fell flat as I giggled throughout - again, the wine and champagne! (In my defense, I practiced the joke on Susan before and about a week later, rattled it off to Carrie, and both "independent third-parties" thought it was funny).

Happy 33rd, House of Pho. I promise to always bring cake for future House of Pho birthdays.

Posted by Schelley Olhava at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day, for many reasons. I spent a few years in college worrying my roommate by eating chocolate and getting drunk and watching bad TV. A few more post-college years were all black outfit days. A few years ago, I was traveling home from a business trip and missed my flight (although after an excellent Cuban lunch in Miami). I almost made it with official girlfriend status another year, but alas, the short-lived relationship ended a few days before. In 2005, we planned to catch a singles mixer, but instead, gave Carrie much needed emotional support as she prepared to deal with corporate layoffs the next day. I think I made some sort of cocktail for all of us, and spent some time making fun of her corporate parents' prepared script.

This year, we talked about going to the same mixer, but then Jill told me that she was going to be in town and I decided to move Sunday dinner to Tuesday night.

It was actually an odd and exciting night for many reasons - and for once, the evening was not occupied with any of the anti-Valentine themed conversations, so prevalent among those of us that are single on that day. I wasn't even ready when everyone started showing up - I had spent more time on the phone that afternoon then expected, forcing me to cut back on my prep time. Everyone understood and pitched in.

Foie gras and brie, accompanied by a bottle of Couteaux de Lyon began the meal. I didn't really care for the foie gras - the fine line between liver and foie gras is very difficult to navigate correctly. The wine was quite wonderful, sweet and complemented the appetizers well. I made butternut squash risotto and salad for dinner; with a Beaujolais courtesy of Rachel. I wasn't such a big fan of the risotto; while I enjoy risotto and butternut squash separately, it just didn't have as much depth of flavor as I was searching for. I may have erred in some way (there was a LOT going on while I was cooking) or impacted the overall dish by substituting vegetable for chicken broth. Warm chocolate pudding cake with vanilla ice cream ended the night well. Regardless of my criticisms, the meal was great and everyone enjoyed.

If anything, Valentine's Day 2006 will always be memorable, which is really what a dinner party should be.

Posted by Schelley Olhava at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Arlequin, the neighborhood wine shop, hosted a wine and chocolate tasting Saturday night, a sort of pre-Valentine's day warm-up. The focus was primarily dessert wines, with little emphasis on chocolate. In fact, I thought they did a poor job on the chocolate part, offering only one variety: dark chocolate mixed with nuts and dried cranberries, which didn't really suit the wines. Or maybe I was just spoiled by Waterford's excellent chocolate and wine pairings in South Africa.

I did drink some quailty wines, including a bubbly pinot noir, Cremant Rose from Lucien Albrecht and a very nice Monastrell Dulce from Spain. The champagne was light and crisp, beautifully pink but without the intense sweetness that can come with the traditional blanc de blancs (which I still enjoy, regardless of sweetness level). The second was a red dessert wine, although much lighter than most.

After tasting, we found the Cremant Rose on the Absinthe menu and promptly ordered a glass. We also ordered some appetizers, none of which were particularly memorable, considering it was Absinthe. The bartender poured us a complimentary second glass of champagne, giving us a knowing look. Later, Carrie and I debated which one of us she liked: I thought it was Carrie, Carrie thought it was me.

Several months ago, a co-worker took me to Sushi Groove South, great atmosphere (similar to a private club) and quality sushi. Carrie and I completely splurged. In addition to the normal sake, tuna, yellowtail, etc. rolls and nigiri that we love, we also tried the foie gras sushi (tasted like high-end liver) and a roll with a generous portion of tobbako topped with a quail egg yolk (which I really enjoyed). Wait, did I spell tobakko correctly? The DJ was also quite good, as were the first round of sake cocktails.

Amazingly enough, for all of this, we were back at my place around 11 or 11:30. Carrie fell asleep on my couch, and that was the evening.

Posted by Schelley Olhava at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One day, while at the gym, I realized that the effectiveness of my cardio workout was directly related to the music piped in over the loudspeakers. Around that same time, it occurred to me that the United Airlines pre-set audio selection left a lot to be desired (as did the comped headphones). Thus, it was time for an MP3 player, or more specifically, the part of me that yearns to be cool longed for an iPod.

I consulted with Susan, who knows oodles about "digital audio players" and decided that an iPod would be worth the investment. At that point, I waffled between various models, a Mini, a 20GB or a 30GB? Susan decided for me and I took advantage of the IDC friends technology share program.

The iPod is now an integral part of my life. Lolita sports an iPod adapter in the glove box. Speakers are set up to plug directly into the iPod in both office and home. I have iPod Bluetooth headphones. I even have Logitech's portable rechargeable iPod speakers (an excellent investment, which I recommend, especially if you spend more time than you wish to admit in hotel rooms). Moreover, the iPod is always with me � at the gym, at work, in the car, in my bag. Oh yes, and I even protect it in a couple of ultra-cool iPod socks.

I had noticed a few problems, but per my usual fashion, stuck my head in the sand and ignored the issues, especially since it continued to work. Last week, problems resurfaced, and soon, I found myself in an endless loop of agony. The only screen image was an icon of an explanation point embedded in a folder and the text line "apple.com/ipod/support". Apple's five step fix-it program failed. The worst words ever appeared when I tried to restore, the final and last stage before permanent death status: "Unable to mount iPod". (I did wonder if this phrasing was some engineer's Easter Egg?)

During lunch, I trekked to the Apple Store's Genius Counter. When I first mentioned the "mount" problem, the technician assumed a puzzled look - and instantly, I sensed trouble. Apple voodoo magic cocooned my iPod. Final diagnosis: "The hard drive is dead. We're sorry". To their credit, at least the technicians looked mournful, unlike a few evil "service technicians" at a the Sunnyvale VW dealership, who seemed to delight in my former cars' problems.

I've now spent five days without my iPod, and miss it. Not like I'd miss one of my kidneys, but it is an ache and void. It should not a surprise that I am planning to buy a new iPod. This time, little debate, the 30GB with video (it's worth pointing out that while I haven't found the video feature terribly interesting, now that I am buying a new iPod, downloading a season's worth of the Office to watch on the next flight doesn't seem like such a bad idea). And, because I may have in part hurried the early demise of my iPod with a few unfortunate accidents at the gym, will finally invest in the Shuffle.

Funny how items that seem so frivolous in the beginning become so indispensable, and so expensive so quickly.

Posted by Schelley Olhava at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A number of San Francisco's finest restaurants (as well as some not-so-fine) participate every January in "Dine About Town". The basic framework: a $31.95 prix fixe menu, appetizer, dessert and entrees. Ostensibly, it's the restaurant circle's way of thanking the citizens of San Francisco for support by offering, what in some cases, can be substantial discounts. As well, it's a chance for the more cash strapped San Franciscans (a not inexpensive city in which to live) to dine in establishments that would otherwise be out of reach. The more cynical me also points out that the timing works, pulling in customers in an otherwise very slow month - after all, fixed costs are fixed costs.

Tony and I met at Citizen Cake last week. We were a bit disappointed; after regularly scrutinizing the posted menu for two weeks, the offering changed from something involving pork to chicken. While we were certain that the chicken must have been delicious, I can almost never bring myself to order the two legged creature in restaurants. It just seems so ordinary and plain, and unless cooked correctly, easily becomes dry and chalky and not worth any price.

At the end, we had an excellent, but non dine about town meal, splitting the very tangy octopus and chick pea stew. Two of my favorite ingredients, Cake dressed it up in a lemony, rich sauce, so good, that I sopped up the remaining sauce with my bread. Tony winced, but he's known me for long enough to understand that some gauche mannerisms never die. I had a pork chop with a mushroom salad on the side, Tony had white fish with pureed sunchokes. We were going to order a ginger themed dessert from the pastry counter, but the alas, the service was so slow, by the time we were asked if we wanted dessert, the mood had passed.

Carrie, Rachel and I hit One Market on January 31, fittingly, the final day of Dine About Town 2006. Sadly, the menu choices were not reflective of those posted online. I was excited about the port poached quince salad, but had to choose between a shaved pear with winter chicory salad or ginger carrot soup with sweet shrimp. I went with the salad, and was disappointed; the pears were good, but the overall combination was just flat. (The soup was the best part of the meal.) Rachel and I were excited about bacon wrapped porked tenderloin; instead, the choices were red snapper or duck. All three of us went with the duck, which, much like the salad, just wasn't as good as expected. I did enjoy the warm cabbage and apple whatever accompanying the duck, but that's because I really like cabbage. I had a trio of sorbets supposedly served with a concord grape granita for dessert, although the kitchen seemed to have left off the granita. Warm chocolate cakes were also served, and like the rest of the meal, just didn't seem that exciting.

Carrie did bring an excellent bottle 2004 Grgich Hills Zin.

Posted by Schelley Olhava at 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)