December 2008 Archives

Well, the snow stopped falling today. The sun came out and it actually felt like we might be done with this storm. Seattle's crack weather forecasters have changed their snowglobe predictions from snow through Friday to cloudy tomorrow to snowy and rainy on Wednesday. I don't believe them, especially after watching some ditz on TV with a bleach blonde farrah fawcett hair style.

Maybe I should mention that today is also the day that I've started to go completely stir crazy. I've been home since Wednesday, the day of 80% probability of a snowstorm and dry conditions all around, followed by my drive in a blizzard Thursday (can you tell I'm still sketched out by that experience?) and then, snow, snow, snow. Thank goodness for my stash of booze, a statement which I'm sure is causing all of you to say "yes, she's definitely, absolutely, an alcoholic." Whatever. Don't judge unless you're living my life.

Anyways.

Snowpocalypse notes:

- Trudging through the snow with elmendez and possiblyme to laugh at, and with, Dina Martina. Plus, finding out that all but one of the bartenders at Quinn's is straight. New Year's resolution: go to Quinn's even more in 2009.
- Watching snowboarder, basket borders and airbed borders sliding down the Denny Street hill. Snowballs, taunts and general good cheeredness made this a Seattle moment to remember, forever.
- Seeing others push cars up hills and around corners. Being one of those others to rescue a car, and a few minutes later, seeing the driver party with the at risk youth on Denny Hill.
- Coming upon a U-Haul truck that had wedged itself into an A8, which was haphazardly parked on Olive. Two hours later, the U-Haul truck was gone, and putting my CSI skills to work, I ascertained that the car has lost control, slammed into the power pole in the front, and later, got clocked by the moving truck. Sad, sad little Audi.
- Watching one of the Snowpaclypse new crews standing at the base of the Belmont Street hill, while talking about how "a Hummer had gotten stuck at the bottom and was abandoned." Laughing, because I've been up and down the hill enough times to know that the Hummer always parks in that spot. Ha.
- Walking in the quiet, quiet snow. I could walk in the middle of streets which were usually busy with cars. Fewer people were on the streets. I can't describe the quiet, it was just cool in a way that I may never experience again.

By my reckoning, I've had to deal with too much snow in the past week. First, last weekend, when I ventured to Fremont in the snow. Then, the 24-hour delayed snowstorm, when I got caught and almost in some serious trouble. The latest, snow which started last night and has continued through the day, supposedly accompanied by a windstorm and probable loss of power. I stayed in last night, I just couldn't go out another night and tromp through the snow.

Some pictures, which may look a lot like where you are, or may not look at all like the Seattle that you know. First, my neighbors spin on a snowman (and no, I don't know exactly what it is supposed to be either):

Then, more views from my balcony when I woke up this morning (and during a break from the snow):

I did make my way through the masses at QFC, picking their way through all essential and non-essential foods. Items in baskets seemed to boil down to four categories: canned goods, nibbles that didn't require heat (smart people), ice cream (bizarre) and alcohol (I heard the liquor store was a mess too. Seattle knows how to prepare). I pick up a flashlight, and figured that if the power went out again - repeating the horror of two years ago - I could once again weather cold and darkness. A very excited little boy reminded me that Christmas was only 5 days away! telling me "Happy Christmas" and backwards counting the number of days.

For dinner, I breaded pork chops, sliced and broiled acorn squash and sauteed cabbage with garlic and white wine (one of my stand by side dishes which I have never written about). Plus, peppermint cupcakes, which I will tell all of you about later. Along with, a very excellent bottle of 2004 Milano Family Winery Hopland Cuvee, a blend of cab, syrah and merlot. It worked, nicely.

I'll reach my 3-year Seattle anniversary at the end of March. Considering that I've been on the 3 to 5 year plan since arriving, it's time to start making some decisions. I'll give you a sneak peek: I'm not going to stay in Seattle for the rest of my life. At this point, I'm wondering if I'll make it another winter. Kind of ironic that two of the three places on my list of where to live next also have cold winters, one with snow. But, both have underground public transport and snow is a fact, not a aberration. I'll keep you all posted.

PS - As I post, it's snowing, again. If you happened to catch the Seahawks-Jets game, that's Seattle.

Click here.

Yeah, cool, isn't it?

Cold weather continues in Seattle, it's now in the 20s and likely to drop lower tonight. The snow has stopped since last night, but supposedly, wind storms and more snow over the weekend.

My neighborhood is a bit eerie. People are out and about (Smith was crowded last night) and happy and fun-loving. The snow has definitely made spirits good, I think also because of the snow days. And, few, few cars are out on the roads, meaning quiet.

Walking on a combination of snow, ice and slush has its challenges, especially considering the hills in my neighborhood. Last night, we took a route that seemed less steep than the other three options. Things were fine, enough for me to finally say "wow, this isn't that bad". Sad to soon, I slipped as soon as I said it. I think the beer gave me better agility, definitely improving the situation.

After what I thought was the start of a mild winter, Mother Nature has reared her ugly head. Actually, the radio DJs joked that God was drunk and showing off his powers. Because really, how often does a snow storm start with a spurt of freaky snow pellets, calm down, suddenly produce lightning and thundersnow, and then in the space of minutes - yes minutes - dump a torrent of snow from the sky? It's the ways of a drunk man.

At 5AM, the ground was clear. No snow was falling from the skies. Huh, I thought. The weather guys were wrong again (they had predicted an 80% chance of snow the day before, which turned out to be wrong, all wrong). When I left at 5:30 (within a few minutes of thundersnow, which should have been a sign), snow was lightly falling. It picked up a bit as I approached the 520 bridge. Trouble really started when I made it to the end of the bridge - the snow started to pour down, visibility decreased and the roads were suddenly covered in snow.

Huh. This can't be good. And at 5:45AM decided to go home (for those familiar with the Seattle area, I cut over to 90 via 405, then Rainier S to 12th to my house, taking a non-hilly route).

The drive from the end of the 520 bridge to my driveway was the scariest and most dangerous drive I've ever been on as either a passenger or driver, and that statement includes some sketchy SF, NYC and 3rd-world country cab rides. My heart was pounding, I would have cried only tears would have been bad, bad, bad. Cars around me were fishtailing, obviously banged up vehicles were stuck on the side of the road, people were chaining up and more than a few idiotic SUVs whizzed past me as I chugged along very, very slowly. In a few cases, visibility was about 5 feet. It was all about survival: getting me and Lolita home in one piece.

I made it home - safe and in one piece, definitely worse for the wear. Hearing the news report and stories, my timing was just right, and I was incredibly lucky. It's still a bad, bad scene.

So a plug for my little car: my Mini Cooper held solid to the ground, with only two fishtails, once on the freeway and once stopped at a light (after that, I timed my pace to avoid stopping at lights, unfortunate at some point for the five cars behind me). I felt as safe as I could, considering the conditions. I just kept plugging along, past SUVs and trucks stuck on the side of the road and watched cars fishtail around me.

PS - Before you make fun of me, remember that I spent my life living in the Bay Area, where snow is a destination for fun and frolic, not a way of life. I am the first to admit that I don't like snow driving - during my formative driving years (15-18), I never had to deal with snow. And, Seattle is notoriously bad when it comes to snow. I passed a few snow plows sitting on the side of the road. Huh.

For some reason, going on a two week business trip for the second half of October seemed like a good idea a month before I booked hotels and flights and vendors and a conference. The day before I left, well, it suddenly wasn't a good idea. Fourteen days, seven beds, three cities and two towns later, I arrived home. Despite the length, it was a good trip. A very interesting conference, time with family on both coasts (East Coast was already written about, at least the cake part), and after nearly a year, finally returning to San Francisco (the March trip doesn't count due to illness) and seeing friends whom I hadn't seen in about a year.

Culinary highlights, just for all of you:

Francine Bistro, Camden, Maine: Camden is a cute little town in Maine along some sort of body of water, where we attended a conference. I found Francine Bistro on Yelp, and we loved so much the first time, we returned a second night. Absolutely delicious, including the spinach soup, duck and multi-colored beet salad with grated apple and the most amazing lemon-based dressing I have ever tasted. My lemon salad dressings are always acidic - which I love - but I would LOVE to know how to make a non-acidic, lemony and sweet lemony dressing. The second part of Camden of note was the Blue Harbor House, a bed and breakfast with absolutely scrumptious breakfasts. Day one: poached pears with ginger and vanilla cream and blueberry pancakes with coconut butter and maple syrup. Day two: poached fruit with vanilla yogurt and egg and tomato omelet with Irish soda bread. Day three: poached fruit with vanilla yogurt and French toast brulee, cubes of French toast baked with a cinnamon syrup.

Grotto, Boston: Good, old-fashioned Italian food. My colleague ordered a heaping plate of delicious spaghetti and meatballs, and Tracy won the award for the prettiest plated dish, risotto in a pumpkin.

The Temple Bar, Boston: Delicious, delicious, delicious food. My ahi poke on a rice cake was delightful and just what I needed.

The Berkshire, Denver: A flight of bacon. I really have nothing else to say except for if you're in Denver, hit the Berkshire for the flight of bacon. I also found my new favorite line stenciled on the wall: "Temptation, libation...and a bacon station".

The Tamale Stand, Denver: Sadly, my favorite tamale vendor in Denver was sold out of tamales both mornings. Can you believe that someone came and bought all three dozen of his tamales at one time? Bitch, I say, bitch. Ahem. However, that did give me the perfect opportunity to try his burritos. At most taquerias, his would be considered "chico" sized, which gave me the perfect excuse for two samples at a time. Egg and chorizo, bean and beef and bean and chile - what else would you ever want for breakfast?

Pizzeria Delfina, San Francisco: Pizzeria Delfina moved in to Pac Heights, and Carrie and I went on Halloween. Slightly different atmosphere than the place I love in the Mission, but still just as delicious. We started with their radicchio salad, enjoyed a bite of our neighbors' fennel salad (hey, it pays to be friendly) and then enjoyed the clam pie and the margharita pie. The leftovers the next day were just as delicious.

Suppenkuche, San Francisco. Delicious German food, as always. After a German charcuterie platter, I feasted on sausages, spaetzle and purple sauerkraut. It was also a birthday celebration, back in my former hood.

Slanted Door, San Francisco: I met Mom and Dad at the Ferry Building, and we decided to try the Slanted Door for dinner. I have to say - I was pleasantly surprised, I had always heard mixed things about the upscale Vietnamese place. Before going for dinner, I had only had drinks and oysters, all delicious...and dinner was just as delicious. We started with oysters (like any Olhava would pass up oysters) and spring rolls, then scallops cooked in a clay pot in some sort of soy and oyster sauce and ginger deliciousness, a perfectly brined and grilled pork chop, sautéed spinach and delicious, delicious eggplant. I should note, the Manhattan was quite tasty. The only bad thing about our meal - the service. Not sure what was going on, but considering the price and reputation, I really expected better.

Bourbon & Branch, San Francisco: The San Francisco speakeasy, requiring either a reservation or a password, or both. We had the password, and "luckily", they had three bar seats for us. Little do they know that the bar is always my favorite seat, and in this case, it was fascinating watching the bartenders in action. Drinks were definitely worth the cost of admission: the autumn Manhattan (it tasted like fall, and let's leave it at that), and the Black Manhattan, made with bourbon and a shot of Averna (yeah Averna, my new favorite appertif).